A few years ago we enjoyed an excellent Kaiseki dinner at Yamazato in Amsterdam. One of the dishes on the menu was Kimizu-Ae: a combination of white asparagus and Kimizu. A few days later we prepared Kimizu, a rich and light sauce. It comes with a velvety mouthfeel, a natural note of sweetness, a bright yellow colour and perfect acidity. Over the years we used it as a base for Béarnaise and Sauce Perigord.
Kimizu combines rice vinegar, mirin and egg. Compared to Hollandaise, Kimizu is lighter, easier to digest and fresher, because it does not contain butter (the egg yolk being the only source of fat). The vinegar used to prepare Hollandaise or Béarnaise is often a flavoured vinegar, for instance with tarragon, shallot and black pepper. An idea we simply had to try when making Kimizu, with a twist!
Using a microwave oven to make Kimizu is a great idea (see our recipe for Hollandaise), although it does require more whipping and more attention compared to making Hollandaise.
What You Need
For the Castric (35 ml)
5 ml Vinegar
50 ml dry White Wine
20 ml Noilly Prat
One corn of Black Pepper
One small Shallot
For the Kimizu
35 ml Castric
25 ml Water
1 teaspoon Mirin
2 Egg Yolks
What You Do
Start by making the Castric
Chop the shallot
Combine all ingredients and leave to reduce by 1/2 on low heat
Pass through a sieve; try to capture the juices of the shallot
Set aside
Make the Kimizu
The castric should be at room temperature
Whisk the egg yolks
Add the castric, the mirin, the water and whisk some more
Now transfer to the microwave and give it let’s say 10 seconds of 30%. Power and duration very much depend on your microwave
Remove from oven and whisk
Repeat
You will now feel the consistency changing. If not, don’t worry, just keep repeating the step
You may want to reduce the power or the duration
Whisk, whisk again and feel free to find your own way
When the Kimizu is ready, take it out of the oven and serve immediately
We served the Kimizu with excellent beef and pommes dauphinois
Having made Banana Ketchup, we were keen to explore what kind of food would combine well with it. Monch Weller wrote us: It’s often paired with fried food here in the Philippines – spring rolls (both meat and vegetable versions), fried chicken, and eggplant omelette. The ketchup paired nicely with vegetarian rolls, but not as well as hot sweet and sour sauce. We decided to make an eggplant omelette, known as Tortang Talong in the Philippines. The eggplant is grilled, peeled, flattened, dipped in an egg mixture and fried in oil. The outside crispy and brown, the inside soft and moist. Best to use the long and slender purple variety, for instance Chinese or Japanese eggplant. Our eggplant was a standard eggplant, large and oblong. Very different in size and shape compared to the one used in the Philippines. We were not sure how we could turn our eggplant into Tortang Talong. Slice it? Fan it? Or mash it and add the eggplant to the egg mixture?
What You Need
1 regular or Italian Eggplant
2 Eggs
Small Garlic Clove
Black Pepper
(optional) Salt
Oil
What You Do
Heat your oven to 230°C or 450°F
Poke the eggplant with a fork. This allows for steam to escape
Place the eggplant on lightly oiled aluminium foil
Roast the eggplant for 30-40 minutes, depending on the size
Let cool
Peel of the skin
Mash the eggplant, but not too much
Combine eggs, salt (if using) and pepper
Beat the mixture well
Add the mashed eggplant. We used 2/3 of our eggplant. Combine
Add grated garlic and mix again
Add oil to a small skillet, set to medium heat
Add the mixture and fry until brown
Flip the omelette and fry the other side until brown
Slice the omelette and serve immediately
Serve with banana ketchup
PS
When we can buy a long slender eggplant, we will prepare the original Tortang Talong. To be continued!
A few weeks ago we were reading Monch Wellers food and lifestyle blog. He writes about Via Mare, a Filipino restaurant that opened its doors 50 years ago. In his blog Monch writes about the food Via Mare offers, for instance Spanish Hot Chocolate, Bibingka (rice cake), Crab Omelette with Banana Ketchup, Lumpiang Ubod (spring rolls made with heart of palm) and Puto Bumbong, a glutinous rice dyed violet and steamed in bamboo tubes. We learn so much about the Filipino food culture thanks to Monchs excellent blog!
Why Bananas?
Maria Orosa (1893–1945) was born in the Philippian province of Batangas, some 100 kilometres south of Manilla. She studied food chemistry and pharmacology in the US. She returned to the Philippines in 1922. She was a food chemist, innovator and war hero. She saw the potential of many local products, for instance bananas and soy, and used these to empower the Philippines. She invented Soyalac (a protein-rich powdered soybean product), Darák (bran rice powder rich in vitamins) and Tiki-Tiki cookies. The powders and cookies saved many lives during wartime food shortages in the Philippines. One of her more frivolous inventions is Banana Ketchup. Why rely on imported tomatoes when it’s possible to make an equally tasty condiment using local bananas?
We loved the philosophy behind the ketchup and began searching for recipes. We noticed that tomato paste is often added, to give the ketchup a more familiar and appetizing colour. We didn’t do this. Afterall, the idea was not to use tomatoes. Plus: what’s wrong with the colour?
Food Pairing
The Banana Ketchup is smooth, its taste long, tangy, spicy and uplifting. The bananas give the ketchup natural sweetness and depth. They also support the spices. A condiment to love. We asked Monch for his favourite combination. He wrote us: It’s often paired with fried food here in the Philippines – spring rolls (both meat and vegetable versions), fried chicken, and eggplant omelette (which was No. 2 in TasteAtlas’ 50 Best Egg Dishes). We tried it with eggplant omelette and vegetable spring rolls. The ketchup paired perfectly with the moist and more delicate flavours of the omelette. Thanks Monch for introducing us to this unknown, delectable sauce!
What You Need
2 small ripe Bananas
½ Shallot
2 cloves of Garlic
20 grams fresh Ginger
½ Kashimiri Pepper
1/8 cup Brown Sugar
¼ cup Rice Vinegar
¼ cup Water
¼ teaspoon Turmeric
Dash of Cinnamon and Nutmeg plus 1 Clove (replacing dash of All Spice)
Oil
What You Do
Chop onion, garlic and ginger
Mash the bananas
Heat oil in a heavy iron skillet
Add chopped onion and glaze, about 5 minutes
Add garlic and ginger
Leave on medium heat, stirring constantly
Add bananas and combine
After a few minutes add vinegar, water, sugar, spices and Kashmiri pepper
When the mixture begins to simmer, reduce heat to low
Leave for 15-20 minutes, stir regularly
Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes
Transfer to a food processor and blend until smooth. This may take one or two minutes
Pass through a sieve to get the right velvety smoothness
Leave to cool before transferring the ketchup to the refrigerator
Serve with eggplant omelette (recipe next week!)
The ketchup will remain tasty for up to 3 days.
PS
In general, we find tomato ketchup too sweet, too salty and bland. Have we ever considered making our own tomato ketchup? No, we haven’t. We’re okay with a small bottle of Heinz Tomato Ketchup Zero, in case we have an irresistible craving for ketchup. Heinz doesn’t add sugar and salt to the Zero Ketchup. They add more tomatoes than usual (great) and a sweetener (pity). The taste? Well, still typically tomato ketchup. Fortunately, Banana Ketchup has far more flavour, spiciness and complexity.
Risotto is amongst our favourite dishes, especially one with mushrooms. Preparing risotto is not difficult, as long as you pay attention to the cooking process and use the right ingredients. Recently a dear friend who lived in Italy for many years told us how to make Risotto with Peas. In the region where he lived (Liguria) this risotto is made without butter. We were not sure about not using butter, so we had it on standby. No need for that: the result was delicious. The rice was creamy thanks to the combination of the starchy cooking liquid and the Parmesan cheese. The peas were cooked to perfection and their taste nutty. The dish as a whole was light and energizing.
Wine Pairing
In general, a dry white wine will pair well with the Risotto with Peas. We enjoyed a glass of lightly oaked Chardonnay produced by Abbots & Delaunay. Aromas of apples and toast; the taste refreshing, long and a touch buttery.
What You Need
80 grams of Carnaroli or Arborio rice
1 Shallot
Olive Oil
Fresh Peas
Stock (Chicken, Vegetable)
Parmesan Cheese
What You Do
Peel and chop the shallot
Shell the peas
Warm the stock
Add olive oil to the pan and glaze the shallot
Add the rice to the pan and coat for 2 minutes
Keep the pan on medium heat. Be patient
Start adding the stock, spoon by spoon and stir frequently
After 10 minutes add the peas
In total it may take 15 – 18 minutes before the rice is al dente
Transfer the pan to the kitchen countertop and leave to rest for 2 minutes
Add grated Parmesan cheese, combine, add some black pepper, taste, add more Parmesan cheese if so required
Serve immediately
PS
We have three other risotto recipes: one with mushrooms, one with squid and one with beetroot.
Earlier we wrote about ‘butterflying’ meat, a technique that allows you to turn a bigger piece of meat into a roulade. Ideal for pork loin or turkey. But what to do when you have smaller pieces of meat and butterflying is not possible? Then it’s a matter of flattening the meat, for instance with a hammer. Better to ask your butcher to do it for you with the head (blade) of a butcher’s axe: easy, quick and a much better result. Thin is better! Once you have flattened pieces of meat it’s a bit of a puzzle to create the roulade. Just give it a try and see what works best. When you think you have the right combination, make sure the kitchen twine is in place and the filling ready. Obviously, you want to match the filling with the side dishes. We served the roulade with caponata and decided to make a filling with sage and thyme.
Wine Pairing
We enjouyed a non-oaked Nero d’Avola from Sicily. The ruby red coloured wine has aromas of cherries and plum. The taste is fruity and long with subtle tannins. Great combination with the Mediterranean flavours in both the roulade and the caponata.
What You Need
4 Boneless Chicken Thighs
1 small Shallot
1 clove of Garlic
10 leaves of Sage
Thyme
Butter
Pancetta
Olive Oil
Lemon
Black Pepper
What You Do
Ask your butcher to flatten the chicken thighs
Chop the shallot and the garlic
De-vein the sage
Remove the thyme leaves from the stalk
Grate the butter
Add olive oil to a heavy iron skillet and gently fry the shallot
After a few minutes reduce the heat
Add garlic and thyme. Stir
Add some lemon juice
Allow the filling to cool
Put strings of kitchen twine on your work top
Decide on the pattern for the meat and put it on top of the kitchen twine. This way you can easily roll up the meat and tie the twine
Cover the meat with sage
Spread the mixture over the sage. Keep the edges free
Add grated butter
Cover with slices of pancetta
Roll up the meat
Tie with kitchen twine
Tightly wrap in plastic foil and transfer to the refrigerator for at least 2 hours
Remove the roulade from the refrigerator and allow to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes
Preheat your oven to 180 °C or 350 °F
Remove the foil
Put the roulade on a rack (this way it will brown evenly)
Add water to the pan
Fry in the oven until the internal temperature is between 70 °C and 75 °C, or 160 °F and 165 °F
Transfer to your worktop, wrap in aluminium foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes
Recently we enjoyed mouth-watering Indian food thanks to Asma Khan’s cookbook Ammu. When we were looking for a dessert in her book, we hoped to find a recipe for Kulfi or for Kheer, both delicious creamy desserts with ingredients such as cardamon and saffron. Unfortunately these recipes are not included in the book. Cream? Dessert? Why not try making a panna cotta with cardamon? The combination turned out to be very tasty, not too rich, a touch sweet and the cardamom was present in just the right way. Decorate with pistachios and rose petals for a delectable Panna Cotta with an Indian twist.
What You Need (for 6)
500 ml Cream
30 Cardamom Pods
20 grams of Sugar
3,5 leaves of Gelatine (5,25 grams)
Rose Petals
Pistachios
What You Do
Peel the cardamon pods
Use a pestler and mortar to lighly crush the seeds
Add the seeds to the cream
Slowly bring the cream with the seeds to the boil
Keep close to boiling for 15 minutes. Stir when necessary
Remove from the heat and while stirring add sugar until totally dissolved
Follow the instruction of the gelatine and soak the leaves
Pass the mixture through a sieve
Add the gelatine to the mixture and stir well
Cool the liquid somewhat before filling the forms. We used a silicone mold. Nice and easy! The only thing you need to do is to make the mold a bit moist with water
Let the panna cotta cool and than store in the refrigerator until set
Don’t forget to seal with cling foil, otherwise your panna cotta will absorb aromas from other food in the refrigerator
The traditional way of eating Fava Beans in the Netherlands is by combining them with an herb called ‘bonenkruid’. The name isn’t very helpful, it translates into ‘bean herb’, so it’s ‘beans with bean herb’. The tradition is based on the idea that the herb would help your body digest the fava beans and that it would compensate for the bitterness of the inner skin of the beans.
Given its name we didn’t pay too much attention to ‘bean herb’, until we saw it in France, where it’s called ‘sarriette’. In English it’s ‘satureja’ or ‘savory’. It turns out to be a very tasty herb, related to rosemary and thyme. It is one of the main herbs in Herbes de Provence, together with marjoram, rosemary, thyme, and oregano.
Its history goes back to Roman times, when it was one of the main ingredients of Garum (or Liquamen), the fermented fish sauce that was used to flavour food. Amongst the herbs used in garum are cilantro, dill, fennel, celery, mint, thyme, oregano and clary sage. The Romans also used satureja as an aphrodisiac.
In her book Van Soeter Cokene Professor Van Winter describes a recipe from 1430 for Crustade, a pie with veal, various herbs (satureja, sage, parsley, hyssop) and spices such as cinnamon, saffron, cloves and mace. According to Van Winter one of the first recipes to combine (green) herbs with spices.
Our ‘bonenkruid’ has much more potential than we expected! We decided to combine it with slowly baked waxy potatoes. They will be very crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. The satureja makes it into a very light, uplifting side dish, great with Coq au Vin or a hearty stew.
What You Need
Waxy Potatoes
Satureja
Olive Oil
Butter
(optional) Black Pepper
What You Do
Peel the potatoes, wash and cook until not yet done
Let cool
Heat a heavy iron pan
Add butter and olive oil
Chop the satureja
Slice the potatoes, not too thin, add to the pan and fry on medium heat
Turn the slices every one or two minutes. The potatoes should become very crispy, a touch golden but not brown
When ready to serve, add ¾ of the satureja and mix
Add black pepper (if using)
Serve and add the remainder of the satureja
PS
Making your own garum is perhaps not the most obvious thing to do. We made it once, many years ago. It turned out to be a very tasty and subtle condiment, despite the fairly present aroma.
We conclude our review of Asma Khan’s cookbook Ammu, Indian Home Cooking to Nourish Your Soul by preparing two dishes: Saffron Lamb and Pulao and asking our esteemed panel (André, Joke, Martine and Rutger) for their thoughts. In Part 1 we wrote about her Pumpkin and Coconutsoup and in Part 2 about her Pineapple and Chilli Chutney and Eggs in Tamarind Gravy.
Asma Khan is an Indian British chef, cookbook author and restaurant owner. In 2012 her pop-up restaurant started for 12 guests at her home, serving food cooked from traditional family recipes. Today her all-female Darjeeling Express restaurant in London offers Indian Rajput and Bengalihome cooking specialties.
In 2024 she won the Johannes van Dam Prize, a lifetime achievement award for an individual who has made an exceptional contribution to the world of gastronomy. Previous winners of the prestigious prize include Yotam Ottolenghi, Carlo Petrini, Alice Waters, Claudia Roden, Jeroen Meus and Alain Passard.
The book is called ‘Ammu’ which translates to ‘Mother’. The stories, the recipes, the whole book is a tribute to the food her mother (and the family’s cook) prepared. But we feel it’s more: it’s also a tribute to original flavours, to people taking time to prepare food, to sharing and enjoying, to communities and heritage.
Saffron Lamb
The recipe calls for a whole leg of lamb. For practical reasons we decided to make a stew using neck of lamb. The meat is marinated for at least 4 hours (or overnight) in a combination of yoghurt, garlic, chilli powder and saffron. Using saffron can be challenging. Asma Khan soaks the saffron in tepid water, which makes it much easier to add the right amount of saffron, not only at the beginning but also just before serving. The stew was a well-balanced combination of lamb, spices and saffron. To quote Asma Khan: “This is a good one to serve friends and family to make them feel loved without having to spend a lot of time in the kitchen!”. It was Rutger’s favourite.
Pulao
Doesn’t it look amazing? Basmati rice with cardamon, cinnamon, rose petals, pistachios, apricots, cloves, onion, rose water and bay leaf. The pulao surprised us all with its flavours, aromas and vibrant colours. The rice has a sweet undertone which makes it ideal to serve with spicy dishes. It combined very well with the lamb, the chutney and the eggs.
It was Martine’s favourite. Preparing it is, as you will expect by now!, a bit of work but it’s not difficult.
Should This Book Be On Your Shelf?
Our answer is “Yes, definitely” but our esteemed panel didn’t agree with us. They loved the dishes and the range of (new) flavours, the complexity of the aromas and the beautiful colours. They would be happy to enjoy more food from Asma Khan, but the time and effort required to prepare the food would be a problem. Which means we will plan another Asma Khan dinner, with dishes such as Stir-Fried Aubergines, Coconut Ladoo and Prawns with Peas and Potatoes. To be continued!
The Book
Ammu, Indian Home Cooking to Nourish Your Soul by Asma Khan is available via the usual channels or your local bookstore for 35,00 US$ or 26,00 EUR. Some of her recipes were published by the BBC, other recipes were published by Great British Chefs and these by the Foodnetwork.
Shrimps and prawns are subtle, delicate and tasty. Popular food in many countries, just think shrimp cocktail, stuffed eggs with shrimps and of course, fried prawns with garlic and lemon. For this recipe you need large, wild or organic prawns. We strongly suggest using ones that are not yet cleaned. It’s not difficult to clean shrimps and they taste much better than factory cleaned shrimps. We serve the prawns with samphire. It’s a crunchy and salty vegetable that brings lots of colour and flavour to the plate. It can be eaten raw but it’s better to cook or steam it for a minute or two. The history of samphire goes back to the 14thcentury when the ashes of the marsh samphire (rich on sodium carbonate) were used to make glass.
Wine Pairing
We enjoyed our Prawns with a glass of Picpoul de Pinet produced by Gérard Bertrand. A dry white wine, with a pale straw yellow color. It has aromas of citrus and gooseberries. The wine is full and round with minerality which is typical for a Picpoul de Pinet. Recently we combined the prawns with a white wine made by Casa Relvas in Portugal. The wine is made with antão vaz and viognier grapes. Subtle aromas, gentle acidity and a nice finish. You could also combine the prawns with a glass of Chablis, Verdejo or Soave.
What You Need
Six large Prawns
Garlic
Olive Oil
Black Pepper
50 grams of Samphire
Crusted Bread
Lemon (optional)
What You Do
Use scissors to cut the shell of the prawn. Start behind the head and cut towards the tail. Just before the tail turn 90 degrees and make a cut around the prawn
Remove the head, the shell and the legs of the body. Keep the tail on the prawn.
Remove the black vein (the prawn’s intestines) and the slurry (if any)
Wipe clean with kitchen paper
Transfer the prawns to the refrigerator
Wash the samphire
Coarsely slice the garlic
Heat a pan with water
Dry the prawns and fry them in a skillet in olive oil (depending on the size maximum 4 minutes in total) on both sides and on the back.
When the prawns begin to colour, add the garlic and reduce the heat
Coat the prawns with the oil and the garlic in the pan
Cook the samphire for one minute maximum (or steam for two minutes)
Drain the samphire
Serve on warm plates with some black pepper and lemon (if using)
We continue our review of Asma Khan’s cookbook Ammu, Indian Home Cooking to Nourish Your Soul by preparing two dishes: Pineapple and Chilli Chutney and Eggs in Tamarind Gravy and asking our esteemed panel (André, Joke, Martine and Rutger) for their thoughts. . Earlierwe wrote about her Pumpkin and Coconut soup.
Asma Khan is an Indian British chef, cookbook author and restaurant owner. In 2012 her pop-up restaurant started for 12 guests at her home, serving food cooked from traditional family recipes. Today her all-female Darjeeling Express restaurant in London offers Indian Rajput and Bengalihome cooking specialties.
In 2024 she won the Johannes van Dam Prize, a lifetime achievement award for an individual who has made an exceptional contribution to the world of gastronomy. Previous winners of the prestigious prize include Yotam Ottolenghi, Carlo Petrini, Alice Waters, Claudia Roden, Jeroen Meus and Alain Passard.
The book is called ‘Ammu’ which translates to ‘Mother’. The stories, the recipes, the whole book is a tribute to the food her mother (and the family’s cook) prepared. But we feel it’s more: it’s also a tribute to original flavours, to people taking time to prepare food, to sharing and enjoying, to communities and heritage.
Wine Pairing
Aska Khan doesn’t include suggestions for drink pairing in the book. As a main we served four dishes: Pineapple and Chilli Chutney, Eggs in Tamarind Gravy, Saffron Lamb and Pulua. We paired this with a red wine called Magenta produced by Domaine de l’Arjolle from the Côtes de Thongue area (west of the French city of Montpellier) made with merlot and cinsault grapes. The wine has a light red colour, and its taste made us think of cherries and red fruit. Excellent light wine that combined very well with the various flavours of Asma Khan’s dishes. In general, we would suggest a light, fruity red wine. If you would like to enjoy a white wine, we would suggest one with limited acidity, for instance Pinot Gris.
Eggs in Tamarind Gravy
When going through the book, we noticed this delicious looking dish. It made us think of Sambal Goreng Telor, an Indonesian side dishe which combines fried hard-boiled eggs with a sauce made with chillies, lemon grass, shrimp paste and other ingredients.
The recipe for Eggs in Tamarind Gravy is not too difficult, just a bit time consuming. The gravy is made with very thinly sliced onions, garlic, ginger, turmeric, chilli, tamarind extract and water. Once combined it needs to be reduced by half. We read the recipe again and started to wonder why it was called ‘gravy’. The liquid in our pan resembled a watery soup, not gravy. We left it to reduce, on low heat, and we waited patiently. It started to thicken and after two or three hours we knew Asma Khan was right: gravy it was. We think that the very thinly sliced onion, cooked through and through, worked as a thickener. Ten minutes before serving we made three shallow slits on the surface of each hard-boiled egg, which helps the eggs to absorb the gravy. The panel loved the combination of subtle flavours: sweet, tangy, sour and rich. The sauce has the texture of old-fashioned gravy and it coated the eggs perfectly.
Pineapple and Chilli Chutney
We decided to prepare Saffron Lamb because of the intriguing recipe (more in our next review). Asma Khan suggests serving the lamb with Rose, Apricot and Pistachio Pulau and Pineapple and Chilli Chutney, so that’s what we did.
The chutney is made with red chillies (we used Kashmiri red chilies), Indian bay leave (tej patta), ginger, sugar, salt and water. It needs to cook until the chutney thickens and looks glossy. As with the gravy we were slightly worried: after thirty minutes our chutney wasn’t glossy or thick and the pineapple was bright yellow. But after three hours the chutney looked exactly as Asma Khan predicted. The panel was surprised by the sweetness and gentle spiciness of the chutney. The flavour of the pineapple was clearly present, but in a savoury way. Tasty in its own right, very nice accompaniment with the lamb and the rice.
The Book
Ammu, Indian Home Cooking to Nourish Your Soul by Asma Khan is available via the usual channels or your local bookstore for 35,00 US$ or 26,00 EUR. Some of her recipes were published by the BBC, other recipes were published by Great British Chefs and these by the Foodnetwork.
Cook and Drink 