100 Happy Days: Day 60 Chinese Cuisine.

Happiness is cooking Chinese meal.

Chinese food tastes best when cooked instantly. Few days ago, I was attending a party and saw this kid stirring noodles in a big pan. This was most unappetizing dish I saw. Stirring makes noodles soggier, and with sauces and veggies, it loses its taste if not cooked well. I was tempted to instruct him the right way of cooking.

How?

First, it should be cooked in small quantities on high flame, secondly, it should be ready in just 3 minutes and it should be served immediately.

I would willing be ready to conduct Chinese food workshop to anyone who is willing to learn because that would make me happy…….of having shared my cooking tricks.

So here I am, with the project of ‘100 Happy Days’I am posting pictures each day here on my blog then sharing the link on my page on FB too. You can enjoy my work either here or on my page at FB at Pushee’s World

Culinary Chat

Whenever I visit my friends I am surprised by the number of dishes that are served on a dining table, there will be great assortments like Rice, Chappatis, two starter, dhal, two different vegetables, yogurt, aachar and papad. One big Thali!!!!How can we eat so many things? I am always confused if my plate is filled up with so many different delicacies. Should I eat Rice first or should it be Chappati? And Indians feel insulted if you don’t eat what they have so lovingly cooked for you, so you have to stuff yourself and that is not all, after lunch comes a bowl of fruits and then deserts like ice-cream or kulfi and finally Paan…..gosh how do they do it? I am beginning to hate masalas in food that means that I am not enjoying outside food and would like to cook all my meals with as little masalas as possible. That’s the reason I like Chinese…it takes so little time to cook and yet so tasty. Like today I made this shredded chicken, Chinese style. I had marinated chicken in garlic, chicken cube and soya sauce for half an hour. On a very high flame I stir-fried the marinated chicken, added spring onion, green chilies, red/green/yellow capsicum, and the dish was ready in just ten minutes. Had it with rice and the little empty space in my stomach I filled it up with orange juice. See, so easy? It is better than preparing Indian dishes where we keep stirring and stirring till the arms get sore. If it takes just ten minutes to eat the food, why should it take two hours to cook it? We just have to fill stomach, we must eat to live and not live to eat. Feasting on food should be reserved only during festivals when burping is the sign of enjoyment. Right?

Time for lunch....Bhindi Potatoes, Sindhi estyle..

Cooking is my passion and my favorite pass time….My book on ‘Joys of Sindhi Cooking’ is almost complete, Next year, I will be going to China to get it published. In this book I have compiled all my mom’s recipes and I hope to get good reviews when it is published. I am keeping my fingers crossed. Here is the page from my book….. Seyal Bhindi Patata Ingredients: ½ kg ladies finger (slit it lengthwise) 2 potatoes (cut into rings) 2 tomatoes (chopped finely) 2 tsp coriander powder 1 tsp turmeric powder Coriander leaves Fenugreek leaves 10 cloves of garlic Chillies Salt Oil Method: 1. Pound into a paste the mixture of chilli, coriander leaves, fenugreek leaves, garlic, coriander powder and salt. 2. Keep it aside. 3. Heat oil and fry the pounded paste. 4. Add the chopped tomatoes and turmeric powder. 5. Stir and fry it well 6. Mash the tomatoes and add 1 cup of water 7. When it starts to boil, add potatoes and ladies finger 8. Cover and cook on slow fire till the potatoes are tender. 9. Do not dry the gravy completely.

Cuisine In Lagos

Outing in Lagos meant going out to dine. Be it Chinese, Nigerian or Lebanese, Lagos boasts of its finest cuisine that is exclusive in taste and its presentation. On the road, they would run behind our cars to sell the plantain chips which were very delicious. I would also see the locals roasting corn, yam and fish at every street corner. Eating in restaurants is a treat. Every restaurant had its own specialty and it was quite an experience trying out the various dishes. I loved the Nigerian cuisine that comprised of hot pepper soup (the best that I have ever tasted), Suya (roasted meat on bamboo sticks), Jellof rice (rice cooked in stew) fufu of cassava, Garri (mashed yam) and charcoal roasted fish. The best Nigerian cuisine were served at Ikoyi Club 1938 (a local club) and in Terra Culture (a cultural centre) The Chinese cuisine that I tasted in Lagos was superb. The meat so tender that it just melts in the mouth. There were three main Chinese restaurants that we visited: Jade Place, Pearl Garden and Golden Crown. When we go to a Chinese restaurant, they serve the condiments of onions, ginger and capsicum. We can combine these condiments with chilly sauce and Soya sauce to suit our taste. A hot and sour Peking Chinese soup with crispy rice is the specialty of all Chinese restaurants in Lagos. Other dishes that were on their menu included Sesame Puffs with the filling of minced chicken, fantail prawns, reddish cake, chicken dumplings, crab balls, spring rolls with the fillings of mayonnaise and prawns. (These were real good and just melted in the mouth). There were many Lebanese restaurants spread all over the city and enjoyed by all Indian society. The most famous Lebanese restaurants were ‘Double Four’, 'Oasis' and 'Goodies'. My cousin was mentioning that she had tried Lebanese at many places around the world but nothing could compare with the Lebanese cuisine of Lagos. And she was right. I tried Falafel, Kibbeh (lamb kheema), Hammus, Babaganoush (brinjal dip), Potatoharra, Shovarma (meat roll) Istanbulli Kababs,and Shishtaul (chicken Kabab) Fatoush salad (salad of cucumber, tomato, lettuce and fried bread) Tabouleh (salad of Parsley) garlic sause and Tatashe sauce (chillies sauce, which we would often pack and take it home). I was amused with the menu card in the restaurants. All the restaurants had colorful menu cards with the photograph of the actual presentation of the food that will be served. It would be easy to decide what we could expect on our table and we were never disappointed.