Hungryaoxing

Passport & Plate - Melting Pot

Singapore | Friday, March 14, 2014 | 3 photos

Ingredients
Came up with this recipe some time ago. I only did it once and didn't record most of the quantities to the exact grams and millimeters. So will probably have most of the things on close estimation.

Serves 2:

Stock:

1) 2-3 Chicken bones (the whole bones from the body of the chicken, with some meat scraps still on. Chopped into smaller chunks)
2) Prawn shells (from prawns used in the Main)
3) 2 cloves of garlic (brunoise)
4) 500 ml of water
5) oil

If the stock runs out before the rice turns al dente, water can be used as a substitute.

Main:

1) 175g of risotto rice (used carnaroli)
2) combination of 3 types of mushrooms (Rough estimation will be: 2 white button mushroom, 3 shitake, 1 portobello)
3) 2-3 tablespoon of dried wolfberries (soaked in water for 10 mins to soften)
4) 100g of japanese pumpkin (cut into 1-1.5 cm cubes)
5) 1/2 capsicum (diced into 1cm cubes. I prefer red capsicum)
6) 1/2 teaspoon of paprika powder
7) 1 teaspoon of fresh thyme leaves
8) 150g butter
9) 2 red onion (diced into 1/2cm cubes)
10) 3 cloves of garlic (brunoise)
11) 6 medium prawns (shells for stock)
12) soy sauce (to taste)
13) grated parmesan cheese (to taste)
14) salmon or trout's roe (garnish)
15) 200 ml white wine
16) oil

 

How to prepare this recipe
Stock:

1) Heat a pot and add a little oil to coat the pot. Saute the garlic til slight brown.
2) On high heat, add chicken bones and prawn shells to saute. Ready when chicken bones turn slightly brown at all sides.
3) Add water and bring to boil. Simmer.

Main:

1) Roast the japanese pumpkin in the oven until it turns slightly brown. Around 15 mins at 180 degrees celsius. Set aside when done.
2) While stock is simmering, get a ladle with holes and place the 6 prawns on the ladle to cook in the stock. Do not overcook the prawns. Do the same for the capsicum. When cooked, set both aside.
3) Heat a pan. Add oil to coat pan. Take approx. 3 tablespoon of onion and saute til brown. Add some butter (~3 teaspoon). Add the mushrooms.
4) When liquid seeps out from the mushrooms, add soy sauce to taste. (Can go a little bit saltier, as this will be the flavour base for the risotto. Won't be adding any salt for this dish as soy sauce is the substitute and has the umami taste). Braise til mushrooms are soft. Set aside when done.
5) In a clean pan, add oil to coat pan and heat on medium. Add some butter, the remaining onion, garlic and saute til fragrant.
6) Add the risotto and saute for awhile. Cook for around 3-4 mins until all the rice is coated well with butter and oil.
7) Add the white wine and stir the rice while waiting for the wine to be reduced. When the wine is reduced, start adding ladles of the stock. Start with 2 ladles and continue maintaining the amount of stock as it evaporates. Continue to stir almost constantly. The process should take around 20 minutes.
8) 15 minutes into the cooking, add the thyme. Add even earlier if you do not want the taste to be too strong.
9) When rice is almost al dente, add in the rest of the stuff (pumpkin, capsicum, etc).
10) To get it to be creamier, add butter to your liking. Lower heat and add parmesan cheese too. Stir and mix.
11) When done, serve on plate. Sprinkle more parmesan cheese and add 1-2 teaspoon of roe to garnish.

 

The story behind this recipe
This probably isn't the story only for this recipe, but a story for all my recipes and my style of creating new recipes. To know the origin of my relationship with food, read the "why I should win" story first.

First of all, I always believed that experiencing more opens up one's mind. Therefore with this philosophy, I tried to apply it to a thousand scenarios. Especially in situations that requires creativity (cooking in this case), it proved to be very useful. I am a software engineer in the day, "chef" by night and a farmer that grows my own herbs. I am a chess player and also plays various sports. The point is, by being a jack of all trades, I hope I can bring many positive things to blend at one single point.

Like I mentioned in the other story, I believed that every food culture is special and blending them at some point in time, will definitely create something interesting. This risotto is just one of the many recipes of blending in ideas from different cultures and a showcase of this belief.

The technique, rice itself and some ingredients has an Italian origin. The ingredients also has some Asian/Chinese elements - wolfberries, shitake, soy sauce (in replacement of salt. No salt is added in this recipe). Use of herbs de provence, popular in French cuisine. Garnished with roe, which is common in Japanese cuisine. I also thinks that some times, the taste of the risotto can make a person feel jaded or cloyed. To "reset" this taste, I added the roe. Drowning in the savoury and creaminess of the risotto, mixing in the roe will give random textures and hint of the slightly sourish and seafood taste profile. Which I thought would be "refreshing" in a way. It also adds a bright shade of orange to the overall brown and otherwise, dull colour.

With this, I hope that I can have the chance to learn more about the Italian food culture as well as the people, for they are the ones that made Italian food popular and famous worldwide.