Coconut fenugreek curry with lamb meatballs

Inspired by a cooking presentation that a friend took me to a few weeks ago, I made this lamb meatball curry from scratch a few days later. 

Coconut fenugreek curry with lamb meatballs

Baked garlic chilli chicken drumsticks

Garlic chilli chicken drumsticks with mixed leaf salad and steamed baby potatoes

Taiwanese 3-cup chicken 三杯雞

One of my favourite dishes from home is 三杯雞, or, literally, three cup chicken. Cooked in sesame oil, rice wine, and soy sauce with a load of whole garlic cloves, fresh slices of ginger, and Thai holy basil (九層塔), this dish is always a reminder of how an over-abundance of flavour can work. Thai holy basil can be hard to find, but my local Asian market sometimes stock it.

Three cup chicken

Ginger carrot soup

A delicious warmer on a cold winter day. I left out potatoes as I wanted a cleaner, lighter soup as part of a hearty meal, but feel free to add in one small to medium russet potato to thicken the soup.

Ginger carrot soup with pine nuts

Lamb vindaloo

After a visit to Asia Market and sourcing lots of wonderful spices and herbs, I decided to make curry from scratch for the first time. I was able to find lamb stew meat at the butcher's, so I went for a lamb vindaloo. Again, my mini chopper proved to be a terrific buy. 

Lamb vindaloo with wholegrain basmati and blanched green beans

Steamed sea bass with citrus, ginger, chilli & coriander

Steamed sea bass with citrus, ginger, chilli, coriander, served on a bed of blanched lotus root slices

Mala soup base 麻辣湯底

A couple of weeks ago, I was teaching a course on Chinese history, culture, and business and in the last class, I talked about Chinese cuisine. As I went through the Eight Culinary Traditions and explained the different flavours and textures, I was hit with a serious craving for Sichuan mala spices that demanded to be satisfied. So after class, I promptly visited Asia Market and got the necessary ingredients to make my version of mala tofu hot pot (麻辣豆腐鍋).

Mala tofu hot pot with mung bean sheets

Buttered pork tenderloin with Granny Smith

So taken I was with the beef & kale cauliflower rice, I had it for dinner again last night and made buttered pork tenderloin and sautéed lamb's liver to go with it.

Buttered pork tenderloin with Granny Smith, served with beef & cauliflower rice and sautéed lamb's liver & mushrooms 

Ginger braised chicken wings 薑燒雞翅

Ginger pistachio biscotti

Whenever I do something new, I like to do it three times. I find that usually with three tries, I can have a pretty good handle on things from thereon. 

Such is the case with recipes. And here is my third attempt at biscotti. This was tweaked from the almond ginger biscotti recipe.

Almond ginger biscotti

Encouraged by my first attempt at making biscotti and intrigued by the other possibilities in terms of flavour combination and technique, I made these almond ginger biscotti.

Chilli & ginger beef stir-fry (2)

Ginseng chicken soup 人蔘雞湯

Chilli & ginger fillet beef stir-fry (1)

Gingerbread loaf

Ginger is a versatile spice, wonderful in marinades, tea, and cakes. One of my favourite ways of using ginger is simply boiling thin slices of it in water and drink it with a squeeze of lemon and a drop of honey. I'm also partial to gingersnaps and gingerbread.

Soy-ginger salmon with spiced sweet potato mash

Tired of the usual pan-fried salmon with dill, parsley, or lemon butter, I went Asian this time with a ginger and soy sauce marinade.