At a discussion on recipes with a friend some time ago, she commented that my cooking repertoire was unusual. It is neither Chinese in its truest sense nor is it the ‘western’ that she’s familiar with. I told her that just like the fact that my family is of mixed cultural heritage, my cooking tend to fuse the best of both worlds. I have made whole chicken roast on a bed of ‘western’ staple root veges (carrots, celery, onion) that I’ve rubbed with the Chinese 5-spice. Sounds unusual I know, but the taste is just the right blend of sweet, savoury and spicy, and the aroma is mouthwatering. My family loves it!
I am a fan of western dishes. I find them to be less cumbersome and simple as opposed to all the chopping and shredding of chinese stir-fries. And then I married a born and bred Chinese-Native man who is more accustomed with his chinese tastebud than his native one. So what’s a girl to do but learn the rule and rigour of chinese cooking, and then bend it!
When I first served my Roast Chicken to the Man he said, “Is this Crispy Chicken, Roast Chicken, err… what Chicken?” I told him to first taste it and then tell me how he liked it. After that first bite, this dish has made a regular appearance on the dinner table ever since.
Back to being a cheat.
I’ve been known to use the method of using CANNED TOMATOES, to cook local dishes. Ha!
According to Chef Michael Smith of the Chef at Home fame on Asian Food Channel, canned tomatoes are picked at its ripest prior to canning, therefore retaining their juiciest flavor. I remembered this when I was happily preparing to cook Assam Fish only to discover that my tomatoes were nowhere in sight. I thought I had them, but I didn’t. That was when I decided to put that canned tomatoes idea to the test.
Well, it worked.
The Hubby was slurping away at his Assam Fish with no thought of where the ingredients came from, and said that it was a wonderful dish. (HIS words.)
So Wonder Women, when you are out of freshly picked tomatoes, cheat there’s always the freshly picked CANNED ones. Just remember to add a bit more sugar (I use brown sugar in all my cooking) as some of these tomatoes, like freshly picked ones, can be a tad more sour than we like. And always use the best that you can find.
Thought of anymore dishes that you can use canned tomatoes with?
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