Rempah Eggplant

By Gilbert | Published: November 12, 2009

Rempah Eggplant

I love eggplant, because cooked properly, it has this buttery-smooth, melt-in-your-mouth texture that lingers on the palate, a true joy to eat. Eggplant is also an incredibly versatile vegetable and can be cooked in so many ways. Stir-fried, boiled in curries, grilled, baked… the list goes on.

Here’s one of my all-time favourite eggplant recipes- Rempah Eggplant. A common home-style Southeast Asian dish, eggplant is stir-fried with a spicy rempah (spice paste). In this dish, a few simple ingredients are transformed into a tantalising treat for the taste-buds, thanks to the wonderful flavours of the rempah.
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Making Rempah (Spice Paste)

By Gilbert | Published: November 8, 2009

Rempah

Rempah is a Malay word used to describe the spice pastes used in many dishes throughout the Southeast Asian region. Depending on the recipe, various ingredients are pounded together in a mortar and pestle, then fried slowly in oil until intensely fragrant. The resulting paste is then used as a recipe base for various curries and stir-fries.

Aromatic and piquant, the flavour of homemade rempah is far superior to the ready-made curry pastes and stir-fry sauces found in supermarkets. The secret to a rempah’s magical flavour lies in the freshness of its ingredients, such as chillies, shallots, dried shrimp, lemongrass and various herbs and spices.
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How To Steam Vegetables In Five Minutes Or Less

By Gilbert | Published: November 6, 2009

Steamed Broccoli

“Don’t murder your veggies!” is a cry often sounded by many natural health experts, nutritionists and raw food advocates. Apparently, heat and the cooking process destroys many of the enzymes and vitamins in vegetables, reducing their nutritional value.

Therefore, the experts often recommend eating a diet high in raw foods. However, a raw food diet may not be for everyone, so the next best option is to lightly steam our vegetables. Steaming ensures that vegetables aren’t overcooked and allows the vegetables to retain most of their nutrients.

However, I used to find steaming a cumbersome process. For one, waiting for the pot of water to boil would take ages. I also had trouble getting vegetables to cook evenly inside a steaming insert. Often the vegetables at the base closest to the steam would turn out overcooked, while those at the top remained raw.

Then one day, Mum phoned me rather excitedly, telling me about this amazing steaming method she’d learnt from a Chinese language cooking show on TV. “It’s so efficient!” she told me. “And it takes less than five minutes!”
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The Mortar and Pestle

By Gilbert | Published: November 3, 2009

Mortar and Pestle

I may belong to the so-called Generation Y, but I’m actually quite old-fashioned when it comes to cooking. I prefer to cook using traditional, time-tested methods where possible, although it may be more laborious. Despite advances in modern technology, I find that certain things just can’t be replaced by a whiz-bang kitchen appliance.

The humble mortar and pestle is one of them. Used throughout Southeast Asia, the mortar and pestle is used to grind spices, blend curry pastes, tenderise meat, and pulverise various ingredients into magical spice pastes called rempah.

As a child I would often be roped into kitchen duty, and one of my usual tasks would be to help my mother make rempah. Mum would hand me a large bowl of chopped onions, chillies and dried shrimp, and it would be my job to pound the lot with the mortar and pestle. So for the next hour or so, I would sit on my little plastic stool in front of the heavy stone mortar, working away. My reward would be the heavenly dishes Mum would whip up for dinner that evening with the resulting spice paste.

Those early memories have always stayed with me, because to this day I refuse to make rempah in a food processor. To me, a food processor can never recreate the heady aroma and crushed texture of a curry or spice paste from a mortar and pestle.
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Oven Baked Fish and Chips

By Gilbert | Published: November 2, 2009

Oven Baked Fish and Chips

I remember the first time I had fish and chips as a new arrival in Australia, back in 2003. I had wandered inside a fish and chips shop in Circular Quay in search of some lunch, and left with a huge parcel of greaseproof paper, wondering if I’d ordered an extra-large serving by mistake. At the time, I was not yet accustomed to Western-sized servings.

So after finding a grassy spot to sit down, I began unwrapping my lunch. As soon as the package was opened, I was hit with the heady aroma of deep-fried goodness. Inside were lots of straight-cut potato chips and two fillets of battered barramundi.

It was delicious.
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Spanakópita (Greek Spinach and Feta Pie)

By Gilbert | Published: October 31, 2009

Spanakopita

One of the many things unique about Melbourne is the city’s multicultural diversity. Since the 1950s, Melbourne’s culture has has been shaped by the many immigrants who have made Melbourne their home.

As an immigrant myself, living in Melbourne has exposed me to foods and cuisines outside of my native Southeast Asian cuisine. Besides the usual Anglo-Saxon fare, other cuisines available in Melbourne’s many restaurants and cafes include Greek, Italian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Indian and more.

In particular, the influence of Melbourne’s Greek community (one of the largest outside Greece) has made foods like souvláki as common and popular as fish and chips. My Greek friends and co-workers have also introduced me to other Greek foods, one of them being spanakópita.
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How To Wash Spinach

By Gilbert | Published: October 29, 2009

Spinach

I will forever associate spinach with Popeye the Sailor Man, thanks to the cartoons I used to watch as a little kid. Back then, I even thought that eating spinach would give me superhuman strength, just like Popeye. Yes, those were the days when my parents told me that Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck lived inside my steam inhaler- and I believed them.

“Where are they? I don’t see them!”
“Keep looking! And hold still and keep breathing.”

Ahh… childhood innocence.

These days I’m aware that spinach alone won’t help me with my bench press. But it’s an extremely nutritious vegetable, so I try to eat it every now and then.

Problem is, I hate washing spinach. I remember the hours (it seemed) I’d spend attempting to wash spinach under running water, wondering if there was an easier way.

As the saying goes, ask and ye shall receive.
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Cooking By Taste

By Gilbert | Published: October 28, 2009

Spoons

Like many Asian cooks, my mother never bothers with standard measuring cups and spoons. This made it incredibly challenging during my time as her apprentice when she was demonstrating a new dish.

“And then you add some salt and sugar….” she would say, as she quickly scooped some salt and sugar from their respective jars and added them to the sizzling wok.

“Hang on,” I would interrupt. “How much salt is that? One teaspoon?”

“Oh, I’m not too sure. Just agak-agak how much you need,” would come the vague reply. Oh… those were the days when I wanted to hit my head against the wall in frustration.

Agak-agak is a Malay phrase that means ‘estimate’. Or more accurately, ‘guesstimate’. When applied to cooking, the cook makes an educated guess as to how much of a particular ingredient is needed, tasting and adjusting as she goes. It’s a skill that takes plenty of experience.

Asian cooks from the older generations tend to be ambivalent towards cookbooks, because they learnt how to cook by watching others. Traditionally, recipes were passed down orally and consisted of a mere list of ingredients. There were no hard-and-fast measures, because the focus was on the taste of the dish.
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Welcome to Kitchen Dojo!

By Gilbert | Published: October 27, 2009

Welcome to Kitchen Dojo!

Kitchen Dojo is a personal project that aims to explore the art and craft of cooking. My goal is to share my love for cooking and photography, as well as other lifestyle topics close to my heart. It’s a constantly evolving work in progress, so don’t be too surprised if things change a bit now and then.

A great place to start is the ‘About’ page and the category links in the sidebar. Browse around and enjoy.

Thanks for stopping by.

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