Passport & Plate - Fish and/or Pasta
Hong Kong | Friday, March 14, 2014 | 2 photos
Ingredients
1) GINGER AND CORIANDER FISH (Hong Kong)
300 grams white fish (fillets firm, usually I use cod)
5 cms ginger (piece, finely sliced)
2 garlic cloves (finely sliced)
2 tbsps soy sauce
1 bunch spring onions (finely shredded)
1 handful coriander (chopped)
white or brown rice (to serve on the side)
1 lime (cut into wedges, to serve
2) FRESH PASTA (Italy)
400g flour
4 eggs
½ teaspoon salt
How to prepare this recipe1) GINGER AND CORIANDER FISH (Hong Kong)
1. Heat oven to 200C/180C or set a pan on the fire. Cut a large rectangle of foil, big enough to make a large envelope. Place the spring onions on the foil, followed by the fish, then the ginger and garlic. Pour over the soy sauce, then season.
2. Fold over foil and seal the 3 edges, then put on a baking sheet or directly in the pan. Cook for 20 mins, open the parcel and scatter over the coriander. Serve with rice and squeezed lime juice
2) FRESH PASTA (Italy)
1. Heap the flour, and make a well in it. Break the eggs into the well. Beat eggs with a fork. Stir into the flour from the bottom of the well with the fork until the dough in the center is smooth or shiny.
2. With your hands, gradually incorporate the flour from the outside of the well toward the center, kneading gently until the mass of dough comes together. Knead the dough until it is smooth and resilient. You may need to add more flour, or you may not be able to incorporate all of the flour, depending on the humidity and the size of the eggs. If the dough is sticky or extremely pliable, knead more flour into it.
3. Divide the dough into three portions, cover with plastic wrap or an overturned bowl, and allow to rest for at least 30 minutes.
4. Roll the dough out very thin on a lightly floured surface, one portion at a time. If you have a pasta machine, follow the manufacturer's instructions for rolling out the dough into sheets about 1 millimeter thick. Use as desired.
The story behind this recipeIt has been very difficult for me to chose the most suitable recipe for you to judge me on. So many things I like to cook and many more that I like to eat. But of course what you eat is also reflecting who you are so I hope you don’t mind if I chose two recipes to explain a little better my dual Gemini soul. What I would like to show, share and let you fantasize about today are two very good recipes special to me for different reasons.
The first one defines my traveler and explorer soul. When I had this dish for the first time I was on a trip to Asia with my boyfriend Fede. We passed by Hong Kong to visit a good friend of mine and one of the days spent there we decided to make a trip to Sai Kung, a fisherman village with great seafood of course, enormous fish tanks at every corner, filled with fish species I would have never saw again in real life, big trays of fish let to dry in the sun and an endemic smell of sea all over. What they served us while trying to find some escape from the very strong August thunderstorm was this white fish with ginger, spring onion and coriander that just refreshed our senses and since then I prepare it quite often at home with similar ingredients.
The second recipe reveals my homey soul, the one that would always stick to old friends and family, the part of me that likes traditions and social engagement. When I prepared fresh pasta the fist time I was not in Italy but I cooked it for Italians. Through this website EatWith I host meals every month for travelers that pass by Amsterdam and want to eat with local people, have a chat and get some nice tips for visiting the city. We had over four Italians from the south of Italy (the most amazing place for food ever) and we had to perform with homemade linguine with mushrooms.
Here explained my double soul: explorer and traditionalist, exotic and Mediterranean but always socially engaged and happy to make people happy tasting what I prepared for them.
