The Blind Cook

"Feeling my way through food, tasting my way through life", says her food blog (The Blind Cook- Sightless Adventures of Gastronomical Proportions). Christine Ha is an inspiration to all the chefs around the globe. Masterchef USA Season 3 winner Christine Ha is the first blind contestant and winner of such a show and says she has to rely on other senses- such as taste, smell and touch to concoct her dishes, which are mostly of Vietnamese origin, as is she.She suffers from an autoimmune disease due to which she started losing her vision in 2004 and was completely sightless in 2007. Even though she cannot see, she has had a different kind of vision- a vision to popularize Vietnamese cooking and to prove the world that differently-able individuals can also reach the apex of prosperity. She even wrote a cookbook which hit the shelves in May 14, 2013- "Recipes from my home kitchen: Asian and American Comfort Food."

A simple yet unforgettable evening meal

The menu:
1.Corn on the cob
2.Mushroom with bok choy
3.Grilled salmon steak
4.Carrot coleslaw

Accompaniments: Red wine

Method:

1. Corn on the cob:
i)   Peel the corn and boil in salt water in a pressure cooker.
ii)  Let them cool and cut in to half.
iii) Heat butter in a pan. Add salt, pepper and lots of lime juice.
iv) Add in the corn and stir fry for a minute.
Corn on the cob is ready.

Mushroom with bok choy and corn on the cob

2. Mushroom with bok choy:
i)   Roughly slice a packet of bok choy and a few Shiitake mushrooms.
ii)  Heat oil in a pan, add grated garlic and salt to it.
iii) Add in the bok choy and stir for few minutes.
iv) Add some ground black pepper, soy sauce, red/white wine and the mushrooms.
v)  Cook for about a minute and it is ready to be served.
Note: Bok choy is a leafy green vegetable mainly found in Southeast Asia. You may replace it with spinach. And if Shiitake mushrooms aren't available, you may use button mushrooms.

3. Grilled salmon steak:
i)   Marinate the salmon fillet with salt, pepper, lime juice, chili flakes, Dijon mustard and garlic paste. Keep aside for an hour.
ii)  Heat oil in a non-stick pan.
iii) Fry each side of the fillet for about 5 minutes and Voila!

Fish steaks grilling away

If you don't get access to salmon, you can alternately use any fish fillet you fancy. e.g. Bhekti.

4. Carrot coleslaw:
i) Grate half a carrot.
ii) Add 4 tsp mayonnaise, salt & pepper to taste, half tsp sugar and mix well.
Coleslaw is ready to be served.

Coleslaw

Bon appetit!!

The complete meal

! 

Momo Chronicles

Everybody's mouth starts watering on mentioning 'Momos'. I have not, till date, come across a single soul who doesn't like them. Be it of any shape, cooked in any method or consist of any filling, I adore momos. In fact, even if you give me a plateful of momos every day, I will not be bored of consuming them. These delightful dumplings just melt in your mouth and are the ideal snack for a cold winter evening (I don't mind them in the peak of summer either. ;) )

To those who aren't aware of their existence (seriously you should die!!), momos are dumplings made of water and wheat flour dough coating with a meat or vegetable filling and then steamed. Momos were introduced from Han China into Tibet, Nepal, Sikkim, North Bengal, North-East India and Bhutan and is similar to the Jiaozi dim sum in China, the Mongolian buuz and the Japanese gyoza.

Classification on the basis of filling:
1) Meat momos: These are the best. Juicy and succulent, they may be of pork, chicken, mutton or buffalo meat. The Ladakhians make it with lamb or yak meat. The meat filling is mixed with shallots, coriander, ginger, garlic and spices. From personal experience, I have seen that the Nepalese make the momo filling spicy by addition of special momo masala which is available in markets whereas in Sikkim and North Bengal the filling is slightly bland. Both versions are delicious.

2) Vegetable momos: The veggies which comprise the filling are usually carrots, shallots and cabbage. Sometimes they use potatoes/ soya bean in Veg. Momo filling.

3) T-momo: This is basically utilization of leftover dough. The usual momo dough is mixed with butter, some more salt and baking soda, shaped and steamed. It is usually served with Alu Dum or Matar ko sabzi.

Some other fillings that I've come across are scrambled eggs, paneer, cheese, Chhurpi and khoya. Basically, you use any filling to fill your momos, it's your call!

Classification on the basis of cooking method:
1) Steamed momos, 2)Fried momos: These are steamed momos which are later deep-fried, 3)Kothey: These are pan-fried momos, thus only the base of the momo is fried after steaming.

Classification on the basis of shape: Usually meat momos are round and vegetable momos are half mooned.

Condiments:
Momo is usually served with one or two of the first 5 options along with the sixth:
1) Hot coriander and mint chutney
2) Tomato/tree tomato with chili and garlic chutney
3) Spicy dallae/red chili chutney
4) Sesame and mustard paste
5) Tomato ketchup
6) Clear soup made of  broth obtained from the steaming process.

With the Nepalese diaspora having reached various parts of India and some parts of the world, everybody is familiar with this delicacy. Coincidentally while I was writing this, my mom came home with a packet of pork and chicken dim sums. Though someone once said, 'Dim sums are poor substitutions for momos', I am greatly satisfied right now, for now. :-D

10 Malaysian dishes that make me cry

1) Asam Laksa:

It's a sour noodle soup cooked with flaky white fish, tamarind stock, pineapple and cucumber. The fishy smell and flavor, while beloved for the locals, isn't so palatable for us.

2) Fish head curry:
A whole fish head stewed with vegetables in coconut milk doesn't sound exciting and not surprisingly, doesn't taste exciting either.

3) Cendol:

Kidney beans in a dessert? Can you imagine? This is a dessert made of glutinous rice, jelly, palm sugar, shaved ice, kidney beans, creamed corn and coconut milk. Even TV food show hosts cannot fake it after having a taste of it.

4) Otak-otak:

 It is fish paste mixed with coconut milk and spices, wrapped in in banana leaf and steamed/grilled. Otak means brains and the dish is named so as its texture resembles that of a brain, soft and squishy.

5) Ais Kacang:

 It is a dessert consisting of red beans, peanuts, agar gar, grass jelly and evaporated milk served with ice cream. The combination is similar to that of Cendol.

6) Belacan and sambal:
 More than dishes, they are actually condiments added to a vast variety of Malaysian items. Belacan is fermented shrimp paste whereas as sambal is a chili based sauce consisting of shrimp paste and fish sauce along with other spices. Both, when added to any food item, give a nasty fishy taste to the dish, a taste which may or may not be acquired even after years of trying.

7) Durian-flavored ice cream:

This is ice cream with the flavor of Durian, the national fruit of Malaysia. It resembles a jack-fruit and is sickly sweet, but extremely stinky. Its odor can even be felt miles away from it.

8) Kuih:
It is of many varieties and flavors. Basically it is glutinous rice mixed with palm sugar mixed with peanut paste/ tapioca/ sweet potato/ kaya / coconut milk/ etc.

9) Fishcake:
If you have the fishcake that they serve in Western countries, you might enjoy them since the fish used is freshwater fish. And obviously, us Bengalis love our Machher Chops. But here the saltwater fish makes the cakes (called Pempek) smelly and often, inedible.

 10) Asam Pedas: This is sour and spicy fish curry cooked with belacan, local spices, tamarind sauce and okra. Not a great combination, I say.