Banh xeo pork belly pancakes

This week at work there has been a lot of chat about unassuming and totally pointless interview questions. As we are constantly recruiting, the interview process does tend to get a little dull, and we were thinking of idiotic questions that would keep us amused and see how interviewees reacted. A couple food for thought questions such as 'Why don't we eat turkey eggs or drink pig's milk' are totally pretentious, but you would get to see a reaction and their ways of thinking to try and respond...(FYI, we don't ask these questions and if we did, we wouldn't want the correct answers we would just want the most creative ones. We're not all wankers in the ad industry, promise). Our whole office is consumed by this 'white and gold/black and blue' dress question (STILL)- if you haven't seen it already, you're obviously not at one with the INTERNET as everyone is talking about it.

I ask myself the same, infuriating question this time every year. We get all in a hubbub about Pancake day, everyone loves it and happy smiley faces stuffed with lemon and sugar, nutella, condensed milk and peanut butter (anyone? it's damn delicious) are all around. As I'm tucking into my umpteenth pancake, I always always always say...'Why don't we eat pancakes more often? They're so goddamn tasty'. It's not just about the inefficiency and low return on investment on my beautiful copper pancake pan for its annual outing, its the fact that every farmer's market, brunch menu or street food stall throughout the year I just seem to forego the pancake option and eat something else. BUT WHYYY??? We should have a bi-monthly Pancake day - raising awareness for pancake craved bellies. Maybe I could be one of those charity muggers on the street, but encouraging people to save the Pancake and its meagre one day of fame a year. As I write this I realise I've officially gone mad and this is way too into my odd train of thought for anyone reading this to care about. So I'll just stop there and talk about one of my favourite savoury pancakes from Vietnam.

Banh xeo. A 'sizzling crepe' of sorts, which is normally filled with thin slices of pork, prawns and beansprouts and is a staple on the little stalls and markets in Vietnam. Beautifully coloured to a warming yellow sunshine from a touch of turmeric, this pancake is made with rice flour, water and coconut milk. This should be as thin as a crepe, crispy on one side and light - and shared out between friends and eaten in a little hand roll of a lettuce leaf, mint and nuoc cham dipping sauce. Sensational. For this recipe, I decided to forego the beansprouts - I feel they are a little necessary for this dish (apologies for my lack of respect for the original...)  and had some caremelised pork belly to go in its place. Quick and easy. Lemon squeezy.

Chilli fish balls and dirty noodle heaven: wok to table in my new Tefal range

Gruelling work at the gym and feeble attempts to do a press up call for reward. Probably, no, definitely not the most logical choice in terms of health but it's hard gym sessions like I've had this week which warrant a little comfort food. (Come the colder weather I'll be inserting this as the latest excuse.)

I'm currently preparing for a supper club next week - which always means a little trip to Queensway or Chinatown (in this case both) to get the best ingredients. And as much as I want to resist, the first fridge always seems to have an array of fishballs. It comes before the vegetable section, so I can only assume it's a staple that I must buy...even when it's not on the menu for next week. Another justification I think is if there is an emoji available, then it must be eaten on a regular meal. I recently read of one fanatic who ate for a week only emoji food icons...dedication. 

My recent trip to Hong Kong definitely did not reach the dumpling and fishball quota, much to my dismay. The street hawkers have the best ones, with the lure of the spicy curry sauce smells that they're slathered in. Dirty and wicked in the best way. 

If you've never had these little bouncy balls of wonder, you really need to change that situation immediately and order some. Be it fried, chopped up, boiled or barbecued - you just have to get them into the belly as soon as possible. 

 

This post is the inauguration of my new Tefal ingenio range I've been kindly given from Tefal. A perfect little kitchen set, this stacks a wok, sauté pan, two saucepans and two frying pans neatly in the space of a cluttered cupboard. How? Detachable handles, which make it easy to pop into the dishwasher, from hob to oven and even then to the table. Having recently fallen amateur cooking idiot recently by heating a ceramic oven dish on the hob (and consequently leading to the dish smashing across the kitchen alongside scraps of Moroccan lamb making an escape for the door), I'm definitely a big fan of hob to oven cookware, which is definitely tricky to come by when you have an electric (and temperamental) hob. 

Perfect for stir frying, the pan heated up in no time, a common gripe with electric hobs and asian cooking which needs a hot pan quick. 

Had I not eaten the wok full of noodles in five seconds flat, the range also has Tupperware lids for the pans- so another handy quick win for leftovers. 

A nifty way to keep your cupboards uncluttered, I would highly recommend this set if you need some new cookware thrills.

Crab and pork dumplings...a dedication

We're sticking to traditional (well, as close to) Chinese food this time. There isn't always a need to mess with something to try and make it better. And dim sum is a clear example of that. I'm incredibly picky when it comes to dim sum... I rarely go outside three different places in London for the lunch time Sunday rush of trolley dashing...dim sum trolley dashing that is. 

Every Sunday we would join two other families for dim sum in Bayswater. No roasties, Yorkshire puds or apple pie for me...just noodles, har gau and custard buns. What a drag. 

There's something about those Sunday rituals which makes dim sum so special. Even when my brother and I were really young we were allowed in the restaurant (stuffing noodles in our mouths and playing with our toys under the table wasn't just restricted to our house apparently), and I think that really was the start of my education and passion for restaurants and social eating. 

I dedicate this post to my Grandmother, who sadly passed away this week. She was a strong woman who looked after her family with much love. My mum is extremely lucky to have been raised by her. I would only see grandma every few years or so, but the one thing I remember most about her and my grandfather was that we would always go visit her in the same restaurant in Shatin. I remember it for two reasons...the way the staff treated my grandparents like they were their own family (right down to knowing what to order for them) and also the fact we had to pass the Snoopy park every time...amazing. It was probably the most frequented restaurant I ever went to in Hong Kong. Not the best food, but what the restaurant stood for was much more significant. I've been extremely lucky to have known all my grandparents for a long time. It's amazing how a simple lunch ritual can hold such meaning and so many memories.

XO-llent Eastern Easter eggs - steamed egg custard with XO sauce

Apologies for the lack of post last week- it's the first week I've missed since starting the blog and I've been feeling guilty about it all week...well, not too guilty considering I spent a lovely weekend in Cambridge basking in the sun eating scones (they most certainly don't count as bread..right? Oh gawd, maybe I now have two things to be guilty about)

However, it did give me time to take a step back from the blog and see I hadn't done a traditional recipe from Hong Kong for a while. And although this dish might not be a regular on menus, it definitely was at Mama Lo's house. A traditional home-style one dish wonder, it is super cheap to make and feasible for both breakfast and dinner times (so twice the reason to make this!). Whilst most of my friends were tucking into fish fingers and chips for tea, I'd be requesting this comforting bowl of plain rice and steamed egg to place in my hands and chow down on in front of watching the Flintstones or Wacky Races on TV (and thus, giving myself away as a classic child of the 80's). Similar to the consistency of panna cotta, it is an unbelievably smooth texture, which breaks off like a delicate tofu piece (and with more punchy flavour too). It almost creates its own sauce as its so good to eat with rice on its own. It totally dominates scrambled eggs any day, and if you're looking for something different to your normal omelette, scrambled, poached eggs rut, look no further.

XO-llent sauce for royalty: scallops, prawns and chilli

For this recipe, I've added on top a great (optional) sauce called 'XO sauce' to elevate this into a full meal - which, to the Chinese, is the GOD of sauces. It's a sort of prestigious condiment, which is more a mini meal in itself. It is a spicy seafood sauce made from prawns, scallops and ham - and originates from HK restaurants in the 80's. The reason why it's called XO - is from XO cognac. However, there isn't a single drop of the stuff in there, it just denotes how 'prestigious' and high end this sauce is, as it would only be served in restaurants of the highest standards. It's relatively cheap to buy in jars in China town, but I definitely would try making your own.

The egg 'custard' calls for this wondrous seasoning known Maggi sauce - it's a true underdog of Asian seasoning (maybe given its origins are actually from Switzerland), but if you don't have this it's not the end of the world.

One Happy Meal please

Spring clean super soba noodles with tofu

So, this post is in dedication to Emily, my flatmate. Don't worry, it's not an "in loving memory", she is alive and well, but she does move out Lolo's HQ in a few weeks. After two years of madness, an alarming number of Green & Blacks chocolate bars and 90% onesie wearing around the house I will miss my partner in crime. She has been a great support of Lolo's kitchen - from being a guinea pig, sous chef and cheerleader. 

Maybe this post should be a dedication to her new diet she has to follow. After some extensive tests, poor Embo has to endure a new regime for 12 weeks. That means no wine, (I repeat, NO WINE, the insanity) no citrus, dairy, berries, sweets, fried food...the list goes on. It goes on for about seven pages! But, there are some things she can eat more of which is very exciting. Tofu, sesame, oily fish, nuts, soya, avocado and red meat being but a few. Hoorah! All mixed together, no thanks. But, I was inspired to make sure my Embo had a tasty dinner she could easily cook up. 

Sesame, so I'm told, is a great source of calcium - and tahini paste is something to behold. A wonderful base for marinating, dressings, sweet fillings, spreads... And so readily available in stores now. 

You can make this recipe with any sort of noodles, swap tofu for chicken/beef/pork- whatever you please. I like soba noodles for this, as it's a great cold - pack it away for lunch al desko! 

Fresh, healthy, Spring clean for your tummy

Go Go Lo-Lo Bak Go: Prosperous turnip cake

Lo Bak Go a.k.a turnip cake a.k.a mooli cake

Huzzah – the Chinese New Year is officially upon us. Double happiness, prosperous lives, with healthy family and friends is all we can look to for 2014. If you’ve been hiding your head in a hole for the past week or so this year is all about the year of the horse. Don’t worry, I’m not going to go all 2013 horse scandal Ikea and Iceland meatballs and burgers on you (the thought did cross my mind albeit extremely briefly… which I was later disgusted at myself for) but I’m going to keep things very traditional here. Both Mama Lo and Papa Lo text me separately saying I should make ‘Lo Bak Go’, a steamed Chinese turnip cake, for prosperity (and deliciousness). I think they had both just eaten Grandma’s cake and been compelled to tell me to immediately this needs to be on the blog. I’ve been saving making this for the new year, however it is eaten all year round for dim sum. It’s one of those dishes I order with my ‘gwai lo’ English friends all the time, as its translation doesn’t really inspire a mouth-watering dish that you would think about trying. But, next time you are having dim sum, do try it – it is something so different but really to quickly fall in love with (and will make you seem like a real dim sum connoisseur – proper foodie kudos). 

Happy Chinese new year! Year of the horse and I'll eat like one thanks.

White turnips (known as mooli/daikon known as well) are the real star of the show here and super easy to work with. Technically, it’s very simple recipe – it just takes a bit of time. You can double the recipe and keep some in the freezer for a rainy day. These little turnips score top marks for health bunnies too – super low in calories and a great source of calcium and iron, as well as improving circulation. If you’re still kidding yourself  on that super January diet cleanse, good for you – you can ignore the last step of frying it at the end, as well as swapping the meat for some spring onions or, dare I say it, quorn mince. But, I highly advise to keep it traditional yeah? 

Sockeye salmon poached in Chinese tea and glass noodles with cucumber chilli dressing

Salmon poached in Lapsang Souchong tea with glass noodles and cucumber chilli dressing

Happy New Year everyone! Sorry for the mouthful of a post title, I couldn’t really find a way to sex it up (well, shorten it at least). Maybe it’s my two week Christmas break and the fact that I have gravy and meat practically running in my veins that has led to an inept ability to stir up any sort of a witty sentence? Anyway, I’ve been itching to get back to Lolo’s Little Kitchen as I’ve been up in Leeds with my family. Mama and Papa Lo arrived from the motherland, and we’ve had a gout inducing couple of weeks eating. It doesn’t help when your brother has a metabolism of a racehorse and your parents want to eat ‘traditional’ Western food like fish and chips, scotch eggs and full English breakfasts every day. That blueberry and pomegranate muesli will have to wait.

In a rather depressing come down of fatty Christmas food and sweets last week I was determined to try a few tricks for a bit of a cleanse to my system. In traditional Chinese medicine, there isn’t anything that you can take to ‘detox’, as it is too much of a shock to your body, but a more gentle and long standing ‘cleanse’ is recommended. An easy place to start would be to swap my copious cups of Yorkshire teas with Chinese tea. Oolong tea is great for January, as it is full of antioxidants to help fight high blood pressure, diabetes and liver damage. But more exciting than that, it promotes weight loss by increasing your metabolism if you drink it regularly. 

Sockeye Alaskan salmon complemented by a smoky Chinese tea

In this recipe, all the ingredients have great health benefits - salmon for its Omega-3 and vermicelli/glass noodles are made from the starch of mung beans and are a healthier, lighter and gluten free alternative to wheat noodles. Eating chilli helps lower cholesterol, improve circulation and lowers blood sugar levels, and gives the vermicelli a punchy ‘POW’ in flavour with the ginger and cucumber. I’ve tried this recipe with Oolong, and it works with green tea also, however recently good old Heston did a Lapsang Souchong infused smoked salmon over the holidays for Waitrose. It has a very distinctive smoky strong flavour (as well as many benefits of black tea) as pine wood is used to smoke the leaves, and so has just enough of a festive aroma to remind you of Xmas. I thought it was almost too smoky for an already smoked salmon, but poaching a salmon fillet in tea works wonderfully. This recipe barely needs any real cooking, it’s really simple (despite the overworked title description).

Lion's head meatball sub

ROAR, it's a lion's head meatball sub with chilli jam

I’m actually amazed by the English and their sense of pride when it comes to the sandwich. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve all tuned in and loved watching a Great British bake-off where they make the best picnic sandwich bread and filling, but I’m talking about the simplicity of a bread-butter-meat-bread sort of sandwich. Lined up in the aisles, they just appear slightly sorry looking and unfulfilling. I need more substance to keep me going than a sandwich and a packet of crisps.  It just doesn’t do it for me. I suppose I never really grew up with the humble sandwich in my lunchbox. I did however come across a brilliant blog called ‘300 sandwiches’ – where this girl’s boyfriend loves sandwiches so much he said she was ‘300 sandwiches away from an engagement ring’. And so started a wonderful, beautifully written blog of creative recipes and stories. I highly recommend it.

Soft sub roll, fresh chinese leaf and chilli jam: the perfect accompaniments