Cantonese Cuisine

Worry-free poultry balls

1. Mix everything together in a bowl. Try to make the dough not too runny and not too dry. (If you are wondering about quantities, here's an example: I use 800 g of meat, large handful of cheese, about 1,8 dl Cuisine and I don't really measure.) 2. Let the dough be for an hour or so in the refrigerator. If you are in hurry, you can skip this step. 3. Heat the pan, add some butter and fry until completely done and nicely brown.

Teochew-style Rice Porridge

**Teochew-style rice porridge (congee / jook) is a little different to the more common Cantonese version. Whereas Cantonese porridge requires a very long cooking time and results in a more liquid-like texture, Teochew-style is quicker to make and has a much firmer texture. This super-quick version uses cooked rice.** 1. Make your soup. Add stock cubes, celery, carrot, onion, a couple of garlic cloves and a few big chunks of ginger to boiling water. Cover and let it all simmer for 20 mins. 2. Add the chicken meat to the soup. Boil until tender, then remove and continue to let the soup simmer. Grab two forks (one in each hand) and shred the chicken. Put it aside in a bowl and season to your liking. 3. After letting the soup reduce a bit, taste and season accordingly. 4. Put your rice in a bowl and strain the soup onto the rice. Garnish with the shredded chicken, a dash of white pepper, some fried garlic bits, something green and whatever vegetables you cooked with the soup. Drizzle with a little sesame and chilli oil.

Scaredy-Cat Sushi

For people who are like my mother, and are scared to death of raw food. Make your sushi with cooked ingredients! My mother lives to spoil us with her cooking, but my sister Ai Ling's favourite cuisine is Japanese--the one cuisine my mother is stumped by. She just couldn't understand people who ingested meat that wasn't boiled/charred/blasted to within an inch of its life. This recipe is her touching compromise. Sushi connoisseurs please spare the beheading: I know it's not authentic and therefore does not count as 'real' sushi (chants 20 times). 1. Use the rice and seaweed sheets 2. Pick your favourite ingredients 3. Season with wasabi, soy or ponzu sauce

But Is It Poke?

**Long Title:** Original Poke of Tuna, Sesame and Hijiki I've always been fascinated with Hawai'ian food. While not exactly haute cuisine, it brings together a mulititude of cultures to create a complete fusion cuisine without any predominant style. You could call it the the "original seed" of fusion cooking. If Jay Adams were a cuisine, he'd be Hawai'ian. The Hawai'ian Islands are among the most remote places on Earth. Its original inhabitants, the Polynesians, brought their local cuisine to the islands from the Marquesas and Tahiti in around 400 A.D.. The Europeans came following Captain James Cook's discovery in the late 18th century and brought their own culinary influences. In the 19th and 20th centuries contracted workers came from China, Japan, Okinawa, Korea, Portugal, Puerto Rico and The Philippines. Each of these regions put their culinary stamp on the islands' cuisine. Poke (pronounced to rhyme with 'OK') is the local Hawai'ian result of the many influences from Japanese sashimi, Filipino kinilaw and Portuguese ceviche, but made in the relaxed island style of Hawai'i. This recipe isn't exactly how it's made in Hawai'i, but with a fusion history like Hawai'i has, I think I can be cut a little slack. I made this for an ex-girlfriend of mine once who was born and raised in Hawai'i. Her response was, "It's great, but is it Poke?". You decide. 1. Dice the tuna into cubes of approximately 2cm x 2cm. No need to be too exact; this is a very casual dish. Let's say you've got about 200gms of fish for the purposes of this recipe. 2. Toast about half a tablespoon of sesame seeds in a dry pan. Keep them moving constantly so that they don't burn. Tip the toasted seeds into a large bowl with the tuna. 3. Chop 2-3 spring onions, including the green part, and throw it in the bowl. Follow that with dried chili flakes to taste, some seaweed (if using) (I used about a heaped teaspoon of hijiki), about a teaspoon of the ground nuts (if using) and the tiniest dash each of sesame oil and soy sauce. Add a sprinkle of salt too (Hawai'ian if you've got it). 4. Mix it all together gently with your hand. Let it sit for a few minutes for the flavours to come together and you're ready to go.