I have had lots of opportunities to cook since I have been here. I put the first thing I cooked here, Pork with Sesame Mustard Sauce, into the Closer Than You Think website. This was made with the few items Tom had in the pantry when we got here. And that was not much. Since then I have lots of fun cooking with new ingredients. Oh, and I am taking a few cooking classes at the Community Center. This past Monday I had a Chilean cooking class. We made Cebiche de Corvina (Fish & Shrimp marinated in Lemon juice) , Arroz con Leche (Rice Pudding), Chancho en Piedra (Chilean Salsa), and Lentajas con Arroz y Chorizo (Lentils and Rice with Sofrito and Spicy Sausage). She adapted to the ingredients you can find here in China. For example, Chorizo is hard to find, so she substituted a Chinese sausage she bought at Carrefour. I would never had just bought that sausage, but because I had a chance to try it, I will. It was pretty good! There was definitely coriander in it, which is weird since the Chinese do not use a lot of coriander when they cook. They do use a lot of cilantro though, so maybe there is a relation there! For those of you who don't know, coriander is the ground seed and cilantro is the leaf from the same plant. There were only four of us in the class. The teacher, Joy, who was from Chili, didn't speak perfect English so sometimes I got the chance to contribute by finding the words she couldn't, like 'curdling' milk. Anyway, tonight I recreated two of the recipes, the Cebiche and the Rice Pudding. Tom is out of town, so it was a good time to cook with shrimp. I planned on also making Mac and Cheese for Natalie as a backup! And I had trouble finding some of the ingredients, so I adapted them slightly (I know, I never follow a recipe!). I am including the recipes and my notes below. Enjoy!
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Rice Pudding (for two)
3 Tbs Long-Grain Rice - note that this should NOT be instant or 5 minute rice.
3 Tbs Sugar
1/2 Litre of Milk
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
Put rice in bowl and cover with milk. Let rice soak about an hour. Add sugar and cinnamon and stir well. Place in heavy bottom bottom pan and place on stove over medium heat. Stir frequently. Don't let rice boil. Add milk when needed. This is similar to cooking Risotto. There should be enough milk in the pan to seem creamy, but not too runny. This will use the whole 1/2 litre, but adding slowly will make the pudding even creamier. It will take about 40 minutes in total to cook.
Notes: The rice will determine how long it will take to cook. In fact, Chinese do not eat a lot of long-grain rice, so I had to buy this rice out of a huge barrel! Also, I cooked for 20 minutes on the stove, added the rest of the mile, and then poured into a casserole dish. I placed into a heated oven (150C) for about 40 minutes. Cooking this way did not result in the creamy pudding that you can make on the stove, but it was good.
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Cebiche de Corvina - serves 4
1 1/2 lbs fresh white, firm-flesh fish such as sea bass, scrod, red snapper, sole
1/2 pound raw small shrimps, peeled
1 cup lemon juice
1 clove garlic
Salt to taste
1 Serrano chile, seeded and finely chopped
1/4 cup each red and yellow peppers, finely chopped
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
1/3 cup red onion, finely chopped
2 tbs minced fresh cilantro
2 Tbs vegetable or corn oil
1 tsp red wine vinegar
Pick through shrimp and pick out any shells. Chop bigger shrimp into 1/2 inch cubes. Clean fish and cut unto 1/2 inch cubes as well. Mix lemon juice, garlic, salt, and chile. Pour over fish and shrimp. Mix well. Place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, up to 2 hours. The time will depend on the thickness of the fish. If you are in a hurry, cut it smaller though too small will make it a bit mushy! The lemon will actually "cook" the fish. It is ready when the fish is opaque. When ready, add in the peppers, celery, onion, cilantro, oil, and vinegar. Place back in fridge for another 30 minutes. Serve in a bowl with slices of baguette or good bread. Can also be served with a tortilla chips.
Notes: I made this with some type of white fish I bought at Carrefour. It was frozen. Fish like that is actually pretty hard to find here. There is a Japanese Sole you can buy, but that seemed pricey. I went with the $3.50 for the unknown frozen fish! Also, I bought a package of small shrimp, also flash-frozen, but forgot that in China they eat small shrimp with the shells on. I had a heck of time cleaning the little suckers off! Next time I will not go so cheap on the shrimp. I did not have the vegetable oil so I used corn. You should NOT use any oil that will overwhelm the fish and shrimp. I also could not find red wine vinegar so I went without. Tasted OK, but the vinegar might soften the lemon a bit. If it tastes too tangy, you probably didn't add enough oil. Don't be stingy with it! I tricked Natalie and told her the white fish was some kind of pork. She ate some, not a lot, but a few bites worth! I ate this as my meal tonight but it would probably be better as an appetizer or alongside a salad. I think despite the little bit of oil, it is pretty healthy too!
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