To Start
Prawn Cocktail
“For something simple to make but very impressive I suggest my Prawn Cocktail salad. It’s fresh and so light. I usually serve this as a starter for a dinner party or Sunday lunch. I like to serve it individually in lovely small bowls and leave the lettuce in large wedges. The mango is an ingredient you don’t usually see in a prawn cocktail but I think it works really well with the other flavours and textures. The key is using really fresh ingredients which you are so spoilt for choice in Hong Kong with. I love visiting the local market in Wanchai and picking up the freshest product. I get my prawns from my favourite fishmonger when they are actually still swimming in tanks. It does not get much better than that!”
Prawn Cocktail
Photo: Courtesy of Danielle Graham, On the Table at Home
Serves 4.
Total preparation and cooking time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
16 raw medium king prawns (shrimp), unpeeled, cut in half lengthways, deveined, heads and tails removed
1/2 iceberg lettuce, outer leaves removed
1 avocado, sliced
1 mango, sliced
1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
Cocktail Sauce:
1/3 cup mayonnaise (see Cook’s Note)
2 tablespoons tomato sauce (ketchup)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Method
1. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil over high heat. Fill a large bowl with iced water. Add the prawns to the boiling water and cook for 2 minutes, or until they rise to the surface. Drain and transfer to the iced water too cool. Peel the prawns and set aside.
2. Fill a large bowl with fresh iced water. Cut the lettuce half into four wedges, transfer to the iced water and set aside.
3. To make the cocktail sauce, put the mayonnaise, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice in a small bowl and stir to combine.
4. Drain the lettuce wedges and gently pat dry with paper towel. Arrange evenly in small bowls, add the avocado and mango slices and drizzle with a little of the sauce. Place some prawn meat on top of each salad and drizzle with the remaining sauce. Scatter over the chives and serve immediately.
Cook’s Note: I prefer to use Kewpie mayonnaise, which is a Japanese brand made with rice vinegar. It is available widely in supermarkets and Asian grocery stores.
Main
Beef Rendang
“My Beef Rendang recipe is a wonderful dish that my mother taught me how to make. For me, this is comfort food that warms the stomach and my heart. I still remember being in heaven eating mouthfuls of this incredibly tender falling-apart meat in this rich, flavoursome sauce when I ate my mum’s beef rendang as a child. When I had my own family she passed the recipe on to me. And I hope one day my daughter Sophie will want to learn how to make it as well. It requires some time to make but well worth the effort as it’s absolutely bursting with flavour. Great for sharing for Mother’s Day lunch or dinner together as a family.”
Beef Rendang served with Pickled Cucumber and Carrot and white rice
Photo: Courtesy of Danielle Graham, On the Table at Home
Serves 4-6.
Total preparation and cooking time: 2.5 Hours
Ingredients
3 tablespoons rice bran oil
3 large brown onions, sliced
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped ginger
3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons samba oelek
3 tablespoon fried shallots
3 teaspoons ground turmeric
2 teaspoons white sugar, or to taste
1 litre coconut cream
2 whole dried chillies
2 kg blade or chuck steak, cut into 3 cm chunks
5 cm piece fresh galangal (or galangal in brine water)
5 kaffir lime leaves
Steamed white rice, to serve
Pickled Cucumber and Carrot (recipe below), to serve
Method
1. Heat the rice bran oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, ginger and garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute, or until lightly browned. Add the samba oelek, fried shallots, turmeric, sugar and salt to taste and cook for 2 minutes. Add the coconut cream and dried chillies, reduce the heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes.
2. Add the steak, whole piece of galangal and kaffir lime leaves and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 2 hours, or until the beef is tender, stirring every 30 minutes to prevent the meat from sticking to the bottom of the saucepan.
3. Serve the Beef Rendang with steamed rice and Pickled Cucumber and Carrot.
Cook’s Note: You can add whole hard-boiled eggs and/or cooked potato to the cooked rendang. Or add raw, chopped potatoes to the rendang when it had been cooking for 1 hour.
Pickled Cucumber and Carrot (optional)
Ingredients
1 Lebanese cucumber, halved lengthways, deseeded and diced
1 carrot, diced
3 red eschalots (Asian shallots), diced
2 bird’s eye chillies, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup rice vinegar
Method
1. Put the cucumber, carrot, red eschalots and bird’s eye chillies in a medium bowl and toss together.
2. Sprinkle over the sugar and salt and toss again.
3. Pour over the rice vinegar and mix well.
4. Cover the mixture and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. Drain the pickled cucumber and carrot, then squeeze out any excess liquid.
6. Serve immediately with grilled meats or barbecued chicken.
Editor
Joanna Fu
