A Tiger In The Kitchen

Braised Duck A L'Aunty Alice

When I think of the family feasts of my Singapore girlhood, there's always a duck in the picture.

To say that my people -- that would be the Teochew ethnic group from Southern China -- adore duck would be a major understatement. During a recent trip to Shantou, the area in China where my great-grandfather lived as a boy, duck and goose were inescapable at every dinner table.

So it's more than slightly sacrilegious to say that I often avoid duck simply because it isn't one of my favorites. (Hey, I'm a big hunk of red meat kind of gal -- what can I say?)

I do make an exception for some versions, however -- and Teochew-style braised duck is one of them.

While I'm really good at eating it, making it is another matter altogether. But this was something my Aunty Alice, the best cook among my mother and her sisters, was intent on fixing right away.

On a recent weekday, she arrived at my Singapore home armed with two ducks and a bag of ingredients and the tutorial began...

Singapore: Grilling The Satay Man

 

I've been on a hunt.

The object of my obsession has been a man who is one of the last of his kind in Singapore -- the traveling Satay Man, a person of a breed so rare that, sadly, he's not likely to be replaced when he finally he hangs up his tongs.

For the last 32 years, this particular satay man has plied his trade almost every day in the Tiong Bahru neighborhood in central Singapore. He spends hours pushing his little wooden cart along the narrow sidewalks near Tiong Bahru market, pausing occasionally to bellow, "Sa-TAAYYYYYY! Sa-TAAYYYYYY!"

Those who live there know to run down quickly when they hear him -- you never know how long he'll stop for. And, at 40 cents (about 28 U.S. cents) for a stick of satay, he often sells out pretty quickly.

I'm happy to report that I finally did catch him. And the news, I fear, is not good.

At 43 years old, he's looking to quit. There's a home in China he's dreaming of retiring to, you see. As soon as he can comfortably close shop for good, he's gone.

For now, however, he's got a job to do. And what a job it is -- after having tasted his satay, I rank this guy up there with Santa Claus in the "bringing joy (and calories) to folks" category.

Seriously, people, we've got to find a way to clone him.

Wedding Soup: The Bitter And The Sweet

When a man loves a woman, in Singapore, it often ends something like this:

The man and his entourage pounding on his loved one's door, waving red packets of money as bribes, demanding to "buy the bride." Once they're inside, a number of the dishes ranging from the downright vile to the sickeningly sweet are set out.

Their task, of course, is to consume what's set before them with as much gusto as they can muster. Only then have they earned the right to claim the bride for the wedding to proceed.

While it sounds like a prank, the practice actually is a legitimate part of Singaporean Chinese wedding traditions -- by eating items that are "suan, ku, la, tian" (sour, bitter, spicy and sweet), the groom is symbolically acknowledging that he expects to go through these phases with his bride in the years ahead. (It's something of a literal take on the "for better or worse" contract of Western marriages.)

I could say that the women involved in these proceedings often feel sorry for the poor sods--but I'd be lying. The only thing I feel sorry about when I think of my husband and his Singapore groomsman having to down a large spoonful of wasabi (spicy) and immediately chasing it with a pint of Guinness (bitter) was the fact that as the bride, I was locked in a bedroom and unable to watch how green they got.

As a result, whenever I'm a bridesmaid helping out with the "suan, ku, la, tian" bit of the buying of the bride, I relish the opportunity to really stick it to the boys.

Bar Artisanal: A Big Brunch on a Budget

Two things in life that I adore: A good brunch and a good deal.

And I like them all the better if I'm able to combine the two. 

Bar Artisanal in Tribeca? It delivers on both fronts.

The restaurant has gotten some mixed reviews since Terrance Brennan (of Artisanal and Picholine) opened the place in late April -- Serious Eats raved about the lamb chops and lamb burger ("a flavor knockout punch") while the New York Times' Frank Bruni picked apart the "overpopulated" duck pissaladière (a French pizza) featuring duck liver, gizzard, confit and a duck egg.

But when it comes to brunch, the verdict is a little clearer -- the menu is simpler, the food is perfectly decent. And the prices, well, they just can't be beat, considering what you're getting.

At $21 for two courses (which could include two main courses) and dessert, you could make off with a $40 meal for about half the price.

Which, suffice to say, is a pretty darn good deal in Manhattan.

Kueh Tutu: A Sweet Bit Of Heritage

Among the many foods I obsessed over while growing up in Singapore, kueh tutu ranked high on the list.

This two-bite-sized spongy pastry featuring a steamed rice-flour shell filled with either sweet, shredded coconut or minced peanuts was already rapidly disappearing from the hawker scene when I was a child. ("Kueh" means cake or cookie in Malay; "tutu" is derived from the sound of the steamers that hawkers used decades ago to make them.)

Because kueh tutu is best eaten warm and freshly made (they tend to become hard and gummy if made even 20 minutes in advance), hawkers have to create them in small batches on demand. This makes them a rather expensive dessert to sell, given Singaporeans aren't generally willing to pay more than 30 to 50 cents for one. (That would be about 20 to 35 U.S. cents.)

Even though some kueh tutu stalls have popped up in foodcourts recently, the pastry is still not exactly sold on every street corner these days. So whenever I spot a cart selling them, I drop everything I'm doing to get in line and buy some.

I can easily eat five or 10 of the sweet nubbins at a sitting -- I wish I were joking.

On Day One of my current trip to Singapore for book research, while hunting down some roast duck for my grandmother's dinner in the Ghim Moh neighborhood, the kueh tutu gods were clearly on my side.

Risotto With Some Snap

As summer romances go, I've been a busy girl.

In addition to discovering and falling in love with the fish guy at the Brooklyn Heights farmers market, I've also been seduced by the New Jersey produce man just across from him.

What's not to love about a giver of fat, red strawberries and deep green, flowering chives? Also, who knew fruit and vegetables from New Jersey could look so good? (I kid, I kid ...)

On a recent Saturday, produce man's beautifully plump peas caught my eye and snagged my heart.

Big, firm and just a gorgeous, gorgeous green, I decided then and there that they were too pretty to puree for a chilled pea soup. Instead, I began envisioning a summery risotto -- and I had just the recipe.

Pho Grand: Almost The Stuff Of Food-Porn Dreams

The longest relationship I had in the six years I lived in Washington, D.C., involved a man with whom I exchanged just a few dozen words.

Once a week, without fail, I would show up at Pho 75 in Arlington, Virginia, where at the front of the line, I would tell my man how big a table I needed, he would gesture toward a spot and that would be it. (Sometimes, he took orders, which might elicit the occasional "You want Number 15 -- large or small?" Exciting stuff, I tell you.)

I went back to Pho 75 every week not because of the guy, of course, but rather the beef noodle soup that they serve, which is consistently the stuff that my most mouthwatering, heart-pounding, bordering-on-porn dreams are made of.

The noodles are always perfectly cooked; the beef lovely and tender. But the broth, oh, that broth. (And the stirrings I feel whenever I think of it.) Made from simmering oxtails, cinnamon, star anise, onions and fennel seeds for hours, that soup is so succulent and hearty it could be a meal all on its own.

In the six years since I left D.C. for New York, I've been on a mission to find something comparable -- to no avail. Sometimes it was the noodles or the beef that failed to measure up but all too often, the problem lay with the soups -- they were bland, too sweet or not sweet enough.

After six years of pho-hopping in New York City, however, I'm happy to report that I've finally found a version that's not bad.

Pho Grand in Manhattan's Chinatown -- it's almost worth cheating on my D.C. man for. 

Focaccia: Where There's Smoke ...

This is a story that has a happy ending.

(See above.)

What happened before that ending, however, was not quite so happy.

There was the steady stream of smoke spewing from the oven; there was the coughing. And then there was the glowering from Mike (who was doing the coughing). 

But there was a lesson learned while making focaccia for the Bread Baker's Apprentice challenge this week:

Don't be so greedy -- use less olive oil.

Nutella-Ginger Cookies Only A Mother Could Love

I have been yearning for butter ever since I saw Julie & Julia a few days ago.

From the first moment that I saw Meryl Streep as Julia Child drop a slab of butter onto a pan, my deep, deep hunger began.

It's made me request extra pats of garlic butter to perch atop my steak in a French bistro and slather it so generously on bread that you could have omitted the bread and, honestly, I would not have noticed.

But, as Julia supposedly said, "With enough butter, anything is good."

And it was this very spirit that led me to finally get off my tush and make the Nutella dessert that I had pledged to do when I signed up for The Nutella Challenge. (It's a little exercise created by Paula at Bell'Alimento in which dozens of amateur bakers have agreed to come up with a dessert starring Nutella.)

Food Porn: Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Tomatoes

Spotted at the Brooklyn Heights farmers market: A tomato smorgasbord at the Wilklow Orchards stand.

(I have to confess, it was the intense burst of colors and sexy names like "Stripped German" that first drew me to the stand. I'm shallow that way.)

After tasting some sweet, sour and super juicy tomatoes, the plan for an Asian noodle lunch was immediately tossed out the window. 

Instead, I have me a bag of tomatoes, green, yellow and brownish purple. And balsamic vinaigrette and a light sprinkling of parmesan cheese to come.

Tomato salad it is, then.