Something to chew on

I’ve not updated this blog for ages, so I thought I’d rejuvenate it with a classic!

This dish is named after the Italian region of Bologna, famous for its meat products and where, allegedly, vegetarianism is almost considered an illness. The dish has become a home favourite worldwide and is usually the go-to when serving large numbers of people, be they young or old.

Unfortunately, it is most commonly seen packaged in supermarkets, pasta included, ready to heat up at your beck and call. The packaged dish is a poor imitation of the authentic and usually has copious amounts of salt, sugar and oil in it, none of which are needed with the right ingredients.

This dish can be made in its most basic form with tinned tomatoes, onions, mincemeat, salt and pepper and of course pasta. It can also be made in about half an hour. However, the recipe I use has a lot of bells and whistles— but the flavour is worth it.

INGREDIENTS

• About 250-500g mincemeat
• 1/2 large red onion (a white onion works fine too, but the red onion’s flavour is better-suited to the tomato and meat juices)
• 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 and 1/2 cans of chopped / pulped tomatoes
• A handful or two of fresh basil leaves
• Two sprigs of rosemary
• Balsamic vinegar
• A smattering of salt
• As much dry pasta as you feel like eating
• Parmesan cheese & basil to garnish

OGATACHEF NOTE: If you want, you can add other vegetables to the bolognese. Recommended are asparagus, courgette, eggplant and cherry tomatoes. These should be chopped into chunks.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Finely chop the onion and garlic and fry in a pot (NOT a frying pan!) until lightly browned. Add the mincemeat. Try not to pulp the mince too much— you’re not making burgers. The meat should form clumps but should still be recogniseable as mincemeat. Lower the heat when the meat has just browned.
   
2. Add the tinned tomatoes (and any other soft vegetables you may have used) and stir so the ingredients diffuse well. It should begin to boil. At this point, add the herbs so that their flavour begins to infuse from the earliest opportunity.
3. Add the balsamic vinegar and salt to your own liking, but try not to overdo it or you’ll kill the flavour of the herbs. Add it a little at a time.
4. Once you’ve got the flavour down, all that’s left to do is wait! The sauce will be very watery at this point. Let it open-air simmer on a low heat until the majority of the liquid has boiled away. Stir every now and then to diffuse the flavours. The longer you let it simmer, the tastier the sauce will be but I recommend about an hour. Don’t let all of the liquid disappear, though, or you’ll end up frying the sauce and it will become tough and oily.
5. When the liquid has disappeared, cover the pot to keep the sauce warm. Then cook your pasta. Different types take different times, but for the Italian al dente style, I recommend no longer than five to six minutes.
6. Serve the sauce over the pasta and add parmesan and basil to taste. As they say in Italy, buon appetito!

Sakura （さくら　／　桜）is Japanese for “cherry blossom”. A teacher I know there once taught me how to make this fragrant, refreshing syrup, perfect for mixing with lightly sparkling water for a refreshing drink. Alternatively it makes a good mixer for a Japanese-inspired cocktail. Add a little plum sake, a little cherry juice, soda water, a dash of lime and you’re away. Don’t forget the ice! This syrup is thinner than most because it’s meant to be used in drinks but if you want to use it in cooking (e.g. to glaze cakes) then double the amount of sugar to thicken it up.

INGREDIENTS

• 3/4 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• A pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup rose water
• a squeeze of lime
• 3 cherries, juice squeezed into the mix (to give it that pinky colour)
• (optional, for decoration only) a handful of edible flower petals - cherry blossom if possible but violet and rose, which are more commonly bought, work just as well.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. To begin with, prepare by chopping the cherries in half and stoning them ready to squeeze later- you’ll need them fast. Also, put a large glass or china jug in the fridge. You’ll see why later!
2. Pour the water into a small saucepan and bring to the boil on a high heat.
3. Add the sugar and the pinch of salt. Stir until it dissolves and then remove from the heat immediately. If you leave it for too long the syrup will be too thick.
4. Leave to cool for 5 minutes. Add the rose water, lime and cherry juice quickly and then stir until the ingredients have mixed. If you pour all of these in as soon as it comes off the heat, the flavours are killed and the syrup is much too sweet.
5. Now you need that jug from the fridge! Take it out and pour the syrup in so it cools quickly. Leave it at room temperature until it has cooled down before adding the flower petals (if you wish to include them). If you add them when the syrup is hot, they will wither and sink to the bottom and that looks a lot less beautiful.
6. Bottle and store at room temperature. Do not refrigerate- this will cause the syrup to be too thick.

OGATACHEF’S NOTE:
Flower petals are currently in season in the Northern Hemisphere. It is July and all the gardens should be in full bloom. Large supermarkets or health food stores should stock edible flower petals, dried, frozen or otherwise. Failing that, pick them from the garden yourself! Here are a list of edible flowers in season in June-August:

Violet - Rose - Mimosa - Jasmine - Lavender - Bergamot - Nasturtium - Pansy - Chamomile - Geranium

Why not try a variation on the above syrup based on a different flower? What about a citrusy bergamot syrup? Or apple and chamomile syrup? Or lemon and geranium? The choice is yours… Just exchange the rose water and pinch of cherry for ingredients better suited to the flower’s taste.

I love south-east Asian food and this recipe is inspired by the flavours of Indonesia. It’s a fiery, spicy curry that is best served with a lot of rice, coconut and coriander to cool it down. However, it’s all very easy to make and tastes wonderful. You don’t really need to add much in the way of extra spices because the peanuts, ginger, coriander and chilli peppers really give this simple dish all the flavours you need. However, if you feel it’s necessary, I recommend a couple of cloves. By the way, it’s advisable that you have some kind of blender for this recipe.

INGREDIENTS (serves 2)

• 250g unsalted, unroasted peanuts
• 2 limes
• 2 red chilli peppers
• 4 cloves garlic
• 200g shallots (or 1 large red onion)
• 1 inch ginger
• A good handful of fresh coriander
• 4 deboned chicken thighs
• 400ml coconut milk
• 1 tbsp ground nut oil
• 3 cups basmati rice (because it’s spicy so you’ll need extra rice!)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Put the peanuts, chillis, garlic, shallots (keep a few aside to fry with the chicken), ginger and coriander into the blender and add the juice of 1 lime. You may need a small bit of coconut milk to help it all blend. What should be created is a lumpy, peanutty paste. Try not to over-blend or the sauce will be too sloppy. Leave the paste in the blender but rub a little of the paste on both sides of the chicken thighs and the shallots you put aside. Fry on a high heat until lightly browned.
2. Return to your paste and add half the coconut milk and ground nut oil. Blend again until it looks more liquid (but again, not so there’s no lumps in it- it needs to have bite). It should be quite a reddish colour at present.
3. Pour the mix into a curry pan and add a little water. Turn onto a low heat. When it’s just starting to bubble, add the chicken thighs and shallots. Leave to simmer for as long as you want. I recommend somewhere between 1 and 2 hours. Add the rest of the coconut milk little by little whenever the curry looks like it might be starting to burn (I like to add a bit more every 15 minutes). 
4. Whilst the curry is simmering, start the rice. Basmati rice cooks in a similar way to Japanese rice but as it’s not as glutinous it requires less water. Make sure it’s covered by about 0.5 - 1cm of water as opposed to Japanese rice’s half inch.
5. When it’s done, the chicken should be tender and falling apart to the touch. The colour of the curry sauce should have also changed to look more brown (as in the picture above). Add the juice of the second lime, serve over basmati rice and garnish with a sprig of coriander. If you want, serve with naan bread or chapati flatbread.

In Japan, soba is a family favourite and the best part is they can be eaten in pretty much any way you like. In summer, they’re eaten cold with ice and a pinch of chilli. In winter, they’re served in warm soups, bursting with fishy flavours. This is a dish taught to me by an old friend and you can eat it cold, warm or however you like. It’s also quick, easy and ideal if you’re trying to save money or don’t have much other food in the house. As a recommendation, it’s nicer with green tea soba!

INGREDIENTS (serves 3)

• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup mirin
• 1/2 cup soy
• 1/2 cup fish sauce
• 1 large pack dry brown soba (or green tea soba) - you can buy this in most supermarkets, these days.
• A pinch of wasabi, chilli or anything else a bit spicy (I think wasabi is best)
• 3 spring onions, chopped
• To top, nori (Japanese seaweed)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Mix the water, mirin, soy and fish sauce in a pan and put over a low heat (be sure to taste-test first to make sure the balance of flavours is to your liking). DO NOT bring to the boil or this will spoil the flavours! Just wait until small bubbles appear and steam is coming off the top. Then cover and get started on the noodles.
2. The noodles shouldn’t take that long- in a pot on a high heat, it should take about 3 - 5 minutes. They should have a bit of bite to them. If you’ve never cooked dry noodles before then it’s similar to cooking dry pasta - you boil the water first, then add the noodles. But because they’re thinner they take a lot less long to cook! NB: don’t cook them in the broth - this will make it go starchy and ruin its taste.
3. When the noodles are done, run them under cold water to cool them down and wash off any starch. Then reheat the soy broth if it’s gone cold.
4. Pop your noodles in a bowl and pour the broth over the top. Sprinkle your wasabi / chilli, spring onions and nori on the top and mix it all about.
5. Best eaten with chopsticks and lots of slurping!

“Donburi” （どんぶり）is a type of rice dish that usually has some kind of sauce-meat combination poured onto it. In Japanese, “oyako” （親子）means “parent and child”. This dish uses an unusual combination of both chicken and eggs, hence the name. I really like donburi- it’s excellent to freeze for leftovers and it’s the perfect stew for a cold night. I’ve been making this for many years now and it’s delicious but requires careful timing so as not to overcook the meat. However, it’s quite easy to do.

INGREDIENTS (serves 2 - 3 people)

• 1 pack diced chicken (or 2 chicken breasts diced yourself)
• 1 green onion
• 1 leek, chopped into thin rounds
• 3 cups water
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup mirin (Japanese rice wine - if you don’t have it, use 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup vinegar instead).
• 2 cups Japanese rice (sometimes sold with names like “sushi rice”, “short grain rice” or “pudding rice”)
• A handful of beansprouts
• 1 egg, beaten with a splash of soy
• To top, nori (Japanese dried seaweed but this isn’t essential)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Lightly fry the chicken in a little oil until it is just done. Then add the onion (chopped into sixths) and the leek. Fry until both are a light golden brown. Set them aside ready for later.
2. Bring the water to the boil in a pot and then gently stir in the soy and mirin (or sugar / vinegar combination). Taste-test it to see how you like it. I like my donburi quite sweet so I add a lot of mirin but if you prefer it salty add more soy. Just adjust the mirin/soy proportions to your taste but I recommend a ratio of 2 parts sweet to 1 salty (i.e. whatever salt you add, double the sweet). NB: If you’re using sugar stir the broth well and try not to add too much extra sugar as this will make the broth gloopy and too thick.
3. When all the ingredients have amalgamated (what a brilliant word) add the chicken, onion and leek. Cover and leave to simmer on a medium-to-low heat until there’s about 1 and 1/2 inches of liquid left. The liquid should also look a little thicker. If not, turn the hear up and let it simmer some more. Whilst it’s simmering, it’s a good time to start cooking your rice! If you have a rice cooker, then you probably don’t need me to tell you what to do. If you don’t, Japanese rice must always be covered with about 1/2 inch of water above it and is cooked when all of the water has completely disappeared. On a high heat, it should take about 20 minutes but be careful not to burn it.
4. Now add the beansprouts, cover, and simmer for another 3 - 5 minutes (turn the heat back down if you turned it up in step 3). Now is a good time to crack and beat that egg!
5. This is the tricky part. Turn the heat right down. Take the lid off and stir the donburi, pouring the beaten egg-soy mix into the swirling broth. Now WAIT! You mustn’t stir the egg mix (however tempting it may be) or the process is ruined and you just end up with bits of scrambled egg in your donburi. Try to be patient and just keep your hands away from the pot! After a while, the egg will cook and form a kind of seal over the broth, but will still be bubbling at the edges. Turn the heat off.
6. Serve the rice into a bowl and spoon a generous helping of donburi, complete with broth, directly on top of it. Enjoy with a spoon and a big smile… as they say in Japan, itadakimasu! (That means “let’s eat!”)