Corn and chickpea flour fritters

Like a lot of people who enjoy cooking, I own a few cookbooks. Over Christmas and my birthday, I got given several to add to my collection.... plus I did buy a few myself!

I tell myself that I don't need to feel guilty about my cookbook collection since I do read each one I own. I'm sure I'm not the only one who takes cookbooks to read in bed!

The other weekend it was just Alastair and I at home for brunch. I had seen a recipe for pancakes or fritters using chickpea flour, but couldn't remember where I had read it. I tried flicking through a few of my newest cookbooks and online through my usual recipe websites but with no success. Gaaah! Don't you hate it when that happens? In the end I couldn't track down the recipe and had to wing it. That's the problem with reading so many books and food magazines - you get ideas and inspiration but then you can't remember where those ideas came from!

I ended up with corn and chickpea flour fritters. I bought the chickpea flour from an Asian grocery store to make onion bhaji and have used it a few times since. Plain flour would work as a substitute, but the chickpea flour gives a unique nutty depth of flavour.

On a side note, I have discovered that indian style chickpea flour is made from chana dal, which is a cousin of the chickpea, not an actual chickpea. There's lots of alternative names for this flour: chana dal flour, gram flour, dal flour, or besan flour to name a few. Actual chickpea flour (ie made from actual chickpeas) is popular in Italian cuisine and is called farina di ceci.



Corn and chickpea flour fritters

Makes about 6 medium fritters

1 cup frozen corn kernels
2 cups chickpea/besan flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons chopped chives
2 eggs
1 cup of milk (add a tad more if you think it's too thick)
Pepper
Oil spray
Cream cheese
6-8 cherry tomatoes, quartered and tossed with a dash of olive oil
Extra chives to garnish

Put all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
Mix together the eggs, milk, onion, and chives, season with pepper, then stir in the dry ingredients and mix lightly until combined.
Allow to stand for 10 minutes.
Heat a nonstick frying pan on medium heat, and lightly spray with oil.
Drop 1/4 cup measures of mixture on to the frying pan, allowing room for spreading, and cook over medium heat. Turn when bubbles come to surface, and cook another minute.
Put a dollop of cream cheese and some cherry tomatoes on top of the fritters, and garnish with some extra snipped chives.

Singapore food

Gak! Has it really been almost two months since we got back from Africa? And I still haven't finished posting all my photos. What a slacker.

The more direct route to South Africa is through Perth, but I was pretty keen to stop in Singapore on the way back (plus I'm not really a fan of Qantas). We only had two nights in Singers, but it was great! The pace was a huge change from Africa. I was especially happy about having a nice hotel to stay in, with a good bed and a great shower.... oh, it was wonderful. We didn't do much in our time there. We caught up with a friend, did a tiny bit of shopping, and we visited the aquarium/underwater world. Alastair likes stuff like that. When we were in Spain a few years ago, we went to three aquariums. Three! What can I say, the man likes his fish.

We did also eat a bit of food while in Singers.

I had some congee during transit, while we were waiting for our flight to Capetown. I didn't get any sleep on the plane and was SO tired and cranky (poor Alastair had to put up with my moaning!). The congee made me feel a little bit better. It's such a comfort food.



And I had congee again at the end of our trip. Mhmm, congee. I really need to make it sometime.



Alastair doesn't quite understand the congee thing so he had pancakes. Pffft.



In Chinatown, we ducked into a small stall and had some noodles. Alastair had dumpling noodle soup.



While I had beef. The meat was tender, however the soup wasn't particularly flavourful. But it did cost S$4, so I'm not complaining.



Alastair fit some laksa into his stay. Twice. (I didn't take a photo of his second bowl.)



But for me, my visit wasn't complete without some chicken rice.

It was interesting being in Singapore having come from Jo'burg. Jo'burg has a reputation for being an unsafe city, while Singapore must be the opposite. We only spent one evening in Jo'burg, and we were advised that it was fine, but not to wander around at night. In Singapore, on the other hand, we walked through Little India around midnight to get to Mustafa, the 24 hour department store, and felt perfectly safe. So I don't know if Jo'burg's reputation is worse than the reality, but I do know that every house that we saw there was surrounded by razor wire or electric fences. Plus I read a South African Cosmopolitan - in amongst the usual stories about how to get a man, what to wear this summer, etc, was an article about what to do if you get car jacked. Hmmm! Perhaps there is some truth to the stories.

Camy Shanghai Dumpling and Noodle Restaurant

Has this restaurant been around forever? It certainly feels (and looks) like it. Even despite closing for "renovations" last year. Perhaps this is code for something else, as when they reopened, nothing had changed!

Eating here is like being part of an efficient factory line. Get in, order, eat, get out. There's no niceties here, no waiting for you to digest your food over a drink and conversation. As soon as your chopsticks have been put down, you'll be asked if you're finished. Yes? Then what are you still doing here?

Let's be honest. Camy does not make the best dumplings in the world. But they're quick, and they're cheap and there's something about the place that's good despite the daggy décor, and the abrupt service. Most occasions that we eat there, the bill comes to less than $10 per person (this occasion we were slightly over, $13.50 each, because we ordered beer). And sure, you may wait in the queue for 10 minutes, but you only wait a couple of minutes for dumplings to start arriving once you're ordered. This time, I swear, it took one minute for our first plate of dumplings to be delivered. Obviously they're not cooking them all to order!

Fried pork dumplings (15 pieces - $6.80)
Ahh... good old fried dumplings. With a slightly chewy skin, they're usually not too oily. These are quite popular and they're favourites for many people I know.


Steamed beef dumplings (12 pieces $6.80)
If you're not that keen on fried dumplings, there's also steamed dumplings. These ones are beef. They're not bad, although I seem to prefer pork dumplings.


Steamed chicken and prawn dumplings (have forgotten the price!)
As you can see, there's not much prawn in the chicken and prawn dumplings. I don't find them as tasty as the other ones.


Chilli oil dumplings (15 pieces - $6)
Now we're getting to the good stuff. These are pork dumplings floating in a soup slicked with chilli oil. There's only the hint of heat in the chilli oil, despite the red slick.


Mushroom and vegetable dumplings (10 pieces $4.50)
The mushroom and vegetable dumplings are my second favourite ones at Camy. They're chock full of garlic and onion and are a little sack of dumpling goodness. Mhmm hmmm.


Shanghai pork mini buns (8 pieces $6.50)

And finally the best is last - the Shanghai pork mini buns (also known as xiaolongbao in other places). The mini buns are little dumplings that are filled with meat and soup. The soup inside is made by placing a little bit of jelly inside prior to steaming. Once they are steamed, the heat turns the jelly into a liquid. Eating them can be a bit of a challenge - first, trying not to pierce the dumpling skin so you don't lose the soup inside (hint: roll them on to a spoon), and second, trying not to burn yourself on the scalding liquid!

Although we didn't have it on this occasion, the pumpkin cakes are also really good. They're small, sweet, deep-fried morsels. We always order two plates and save them for dessert, managing to fit them in despite the plates of dumplings we have ingested!

Camy Shanghai Dumpling and Noodle Restaurant
25 Tattersalls Lane
Melbourne 3000
Phone: 9663 8555

Rich chocolate truffles + a fish tank story

From this....
When we first arrived in Melbourne, we bought a fish that started off a small fish keeping obsession. Yogi was a beautiful, blue Siamese Fighter that came in a little plastic tank.

We soon realised that although Siamese Fighters can survive in small unheated tanks, they're actually much happier with more space. So we bought him a slightly bigger tank with a water heater. And since we had a larger tank, it meant that we could add more fish. And with more fish... well, eventually we had to upgrade to an even larger tank. Were we satisfied with that? Hell no! Eventually we bought a 130 litre tank, along with an improved water pump and more fish.

For a while we were really into fish keeping, but then we got cats. With the arrival of the cats, the fish stopped being as interesting. Gradually the fish keeping obsession eased and we stopped at the tank shown above.

The tank and its fishy occupants moved with us three times. Sadly Yogi died a couple of years ago, but one fish that has been with us for about four years is Big Fella, a kissing gourami (the pink/white fish in the tank above). Big Fella was a bargain price of $2.50 and we think that he's probably a fish that someone returned to the fish shop. They get quite large and can become aggressive with other fish, so unfortunately this is a very likely scenario. He is most likely at least five years old. Boy, is Big Fella a trooper. He's survived several tanks, three house moves, as well as the addition of many fish, all of whom have died apart from another gourami (imaginatively named Little Big Fella).

Yesterday, we were sitting on the couch, when there was an almighty bang that sent the cats flying upstairs. The fish tank had cracked, sending water gushing on to our carpet.


To this!
Oh boy! It was fortunate that the tank burst while Alastair and I were at home. It sent us flying into action - I grabbed buckets, while Alastair prioritised and unplugged my Bro's Xbox 360. Yup, never mind the litres of water pouring on to our floor, make sure the gadgets are okay! We managed to catch most of the water in buckets and although it still smells like wet carpet in the house, thankfully the damage was negligible.


A new home

The tank is obviously worthless, so Big Fella and his friend have a new, much smaller, tank to call home. If this one breaks at least it can't cause much damage!

Yesterday I had been intending to finish off some posts when I got side tracked into catching and mopping up water. So how about just a recipe for chocolate truffles instead? These truffles were the only sweet item I made for our orphan's Christmas. We left them out of the fridge and they became all soft and gooey. Not a bad way to eat them.



Rich Chocolate Truffles

From Kitchen Classics: Sweet and Savoury Bites

Makes about 30

185 ml (6 fl oz or 3/4 cup) thick (double/heavy) cream
400g (14 oz) dark chocolate, grated
70g (2 1/2 oz) unsalted btter, chopped
2 tablespoons Cointreau (I used cherry brandy)
dark unsweetened cocoa powder, for rolling

Place the cream in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Rmove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until it is completely melted. Add the butter and stir until melted. Stir in the Cointreau. Transfer to a large bowl, cover and refrigerate for seveal hours or overnight, or until firm enough to roll.

Quickly roll tablespoons of the mixture into balls, and refrigerate until firm. Roll the balls in the cocoa, shake off any excess and return to the refrigerator. Serve at room temperature.

Note: The truffle mixture can be made and rolled up to 2 weeks ahead. You will need to roll the balls in cocoa again close to serving time.

What I've been eating

I've been trying to play catch up with things ever since we got back. It took me six weeks, but I have finally caught up with all my RSS feeds. I had 1000+ items when we returned, and finally they're all gone! Gone!!

I have a few food images that don't warrant a full post, so here's a quick pictorial of things I've been eating in the past few weeks.

Piadina Slowfood
57 Lonsdale St
Melbourne 3000 VIC
Phone: (03) 9662 2277

I had a leisurely lunch at Piadina Slowfood. It was a warm day so I was able to snag a table outside. I had the pan seared yellowfin tuna with green bean salad.



The tuna was covered in sesame seeds and just seared so it was pink and moist in the middle. The beans and salad had just the right amount of a soy and ginger dressing. I finished off my meal with a caramelly flat white. What a lunch!



Grand BBQ
Target Centre Arcade
236 Bourke Street, Melbourne

Another lunch, not quite as leisurely, was yong tau foo from Grand BBQ. You can choose 6 pieces of yong tau foo, then make a choice between vermicelli, hor fun, hokkein or egg noodles. Finally there's a decision on soup – clear, curry or tom yum. I choose eggplant, chilli, fish cake, fish ball, stuffed tofu and a dumpling. I didn't realise that the chilli was a spicy one. What I actually wanted was a piece of capsicum but I had a moment of decision panic. Doh! I love chilli, but this was a bit much.

The only thing harder than deciding on the six items was finding a seat. They were busy!



Chillipadi
Shop OE7, Menzies Alley, Melbourne Central
211 La Trobe Street,, Melbourne
Phone: (03) 9663-5688

We had a late dinner at Chillipadi, where I couldn't go past the nasi lemak. I loved the way it was presented, but it wasn't quite as good as other ones I've had. The pickles weren't as tangy as I like but the rendang was tasty and fragrant.



We were very childish and entertained ourselves by drawing on the paper covering the table. Okay lah!



George Hotel
139 Cecil Street, South Melbourne
Phone: (03) 9686 5655

I had a massive pub burger from the George Hotel. The meat pattie could've used a bit more seasoning, but the chips were surprisingly good. I don't usually like thin fries much, but these were crunchy and moreish. I couldn't finish the burger because I was concentrating on the chips.



For dinner one evening I used left over brown rice to make rice fritters. I combined the rice with some grated vegetables, egg, a bit of flour and soy sauce, before shaping them into patties and rolling them in breadcrumbs. They were very tasty.



Another dinner was a stir fry of beef and cabbage with szechuan pepper. There was a bit too much szechan pepper and it numbed my tongue. Gak!



And finally, I've been really enjoying some summer fruits - cherries, lychees, and raspberries as well as blueberries and mangoes. Delicious!