Vietnamese Beef Broth (Phở Bò)

After my visit  to Pho Restaurant in Brighton, I have of course been inspired to write a recipe. If you would like to try making this delicious, nourishing and healthy Soup at home, here is my do’able version:

Ingredients:

(for the Beef Broth)

3 kg Beef Bones 

1 slice of Beef Brisket (stewing steak)

1 Onion, halved

1 Carrot, sliced

1 large Piece of Ginger, sliced

5 cloves

1 tsp Peppercorns

1 tsp Fennel Seeds

2 Cassia Bark Sticks

2 Star Anise

3 Black cardamon Pods

3 tbs Fish sauce

1 tbs Sea Salt

a piece of Rock Sugar

a bunch of Coriander Stalks

Place the Bones and Stewing Steak into a Stock Pot and cover with cold Water. 

Bring to the boil, then turn the heat to low.

A lot of foam and scum will rise to the top at it comes to a simmer. 

Lovingly remove this with a spoon. 

That done add the spices and seasonings.

Simmer on a very low heat, without a lid for a minimum of 3 hours. (the longer the better) During this time keep skimming of any rising foam and the fat.

Do not stir the Broth to much, to keep it nice and clear.

After about 1 1/2 hour take out the Beef Brisket (Stewing Steak) and leave to cool. 

Ingredients for the Bowl:
Flat Rice Noodles, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes then rinsed.
Spring Onions, cut into rings
Red Chilli slithers
Coriander Leaves
Thai Basil Leaves
Vietnamese Mint Leaves
The Beef Brisket, sliced
Filet Steak, sliced very thinly
Ox Tripe, thinly sliced (optional)
Bean Sprouts
Feshly ground Black Pepper 

Arrange the Noodles,  Beef Brisket,  Steak slices and the ingredients that you like in your Bowl, ready for the steaming hot Broth to be ladled over. Add in or leave out all that is to your personal taste. 

This is the beauty if the Pho, you make it your own, just the way you want it. 
Strain the Beef Broth through a sieve lined with wet muslin.
Return to a bubbling boil and check the seasoning one last time
Add a little Fish Sauce if needed.

Finally ladle the boiling Broth into your Bowls and serve with a Lime Wedge, some chilli slithers and some more of the herbs on the side. These can be added to taste at the table.
Enjoy! 

Aïoli Restaurant, Male, Maldives

Whenever I come to Male as Crew we like to visit Aioli Restaurant, near our Hotel.
I have been there many many times and cannot fault their food.
The menu has a mixture of delicacies from all the various Asian and European cuisines, competing for your attention.
What do you like? What do you fancy today?
There is definitely something for everybody.
Creative Salads, comforting Pastas, exciting Curries, Vegetarian Food, fresh Seafood, juicey Steaks and local Fayre.

The outside or airconditioned (sometimes too chilly) inside sitting areas are friendly and reflect the style of the varied cuisines that are served here. Downstairs by the courtyard is a vitrine with tempting cakes and sweets on display,  which I can imagine will make coming here for afternoon tea a nice idea. Still it is never very busy in Alioli and I cannot quite understand why.

Butter Chicken with Rice and Garlic Nan is the favourite dish amongst the Crew, but I personally went for the Hot and Sour Soup with Prawns. I love it, but if you are not used to the chillies it will give you hickups!
One great thing that I like alot about Aioli, is that they will accommodate your taste for degrees of spicyness. Just tell them how hot or mild you like it and they’ll do it.Which makes me think, why don’t restaurants have a scoville chart type rating for dishes. … Make mine an 8 out of 10 please 🙂

Here  is a link to their website: http://www.aioli.com.mv/index.htm

Traders Hotel Male, Maldives

Male, the capital of the Maldives, with over 103.000 people sharing just 2.2 square miles of space, is pretty crowded, in fact it is the most densly populated island in the world. What you’ll notice straight away is the never ending stream of motorbikes going round and round and round. My brother has this theory that they have nowhere to go, but they drive because they like the cool breeze.
If you have to stay here for business or to catch your early flight home after coming from a resort island the Traders Hotel Male by Shangri-La is a smart choice.

Their rooms are comfortable and modern with big showers in a bathroom that is made of glass walls!
There are wooden blinds you could shut, but really it’s much more fun if you don’t.

Random Fact: When this hotel was first built they made sure it’s foundation reaches deep down, so in an event of freak tidal waves or suchlike Traders will probably be the last building standing.

On the roof you’ll find a popular evening hang out for locals and tourists alike. Smoking shishas, drinking tea and mocktails under the stars while listening to chill out tunes. In the daytime the rooftop converts to a swimming pool with double-bed sized sun loungers and a trendy sushi restaurant. They will bring your food on a cute little tray that sits over your lap, so you needn’t move an inch from your sunny or shady spot.

I treated myself to Sashimi this afternoon. The Maldives being a world renowned Line and Pole Sustainable Fishing Community, what better to have then the freshest fish possible.
In fact the Azur Roof Top Restaurant staff will not serve it unless it is super fresh from that days catch.

Typically in the Maldives the variety of food include their own (spicy fish or meat curries, rice and roti breads), Indian, Thai and other Asian cuisines.

So when you come down to the breakfast buffet, you will find anything from Dim Sum to Nasi Goreng. Which of course makes my day!
What I find most intruiguing are the fruit steeped in spices. Every morning the chef comes up with new whacky combinations. Today we had Grapefruit with Cardamon and Pineapple with Cinnamon.
There is of course the usual continental and traditional cooked breakfast, too. Being a muslim county you won’t find anything containing pork though, instead there will be chewy beef bacon and squidgey chicken sausages.

Whenever I come here I feel warmly welcomed, comfortable and relaxed. I don’t know if it is the beautiful turquoise colour of the water but staying here in the Maldives always make me feel happy.

Click here for a link to their website: http://www.shangri-la.com/en/property/male/traders

Spinach & Ricotta Macaroni Pie

There is Macaroni Cheese in the United States, Macaroni Pie in the Caribbean, Ricotta and Spinach Cannelloni in Italy and now there is Ricotta and Spinach Macaroni Pie created by international inspiration!

Pecorino gives this dish a lovely tangy twist 🙂
Ingredients:
(serves 4)

150g Cooked Macaroni, broken up a bit
100g Ricotta
100g Cooked and drained Spinach
1 Egg
100g Pecorino Cheese, grated
Nutmeg
some Parmesan for grating on top

In a bowl whisk the Egg and stir in the Ricotta. Next add the grated Pecorino and the Spinach. Season with a little grated Nutmeg. Stir in the cooked and cooled Macaroni and transfer this into a lightly oiled spring form.
Sprinkle with grated Parmesan.

Bake in a 200C oven for 45 minutes until nicely golden all over.
Leave to cool a little, then remove the spring form.
Serve in wedges with Salad on  the side.

Banana Flower Boat Salad

Sometimes I like to buy things that I have never cooked with and may not even know what they are. This was one of those occasions. After I bought this flower bud in the Fruit and Veg Market in Male, (Maldives), I put a picture of it on a cooking related facebook group What Sha Cooking? and ask for help.
Once I learned what this flower is, it was easy to create a recipe for it, and I am pretty happy with the Result, as well as the fact that another cooking mystery has been solved.

Ingredients:
1 Banana Flower
1 small red Onion, sliced thinly
1 handful Basil Leaves
1 handful Mint Leaves

Dressing:
3 Birds Eye Chillies
1 tbs Rice Vinegar
1 tbs Fish Sauce
1 tsp Palm Sugar

Marinate:
1 Sirloin Steak into cubes 
2 tsp Soy Sauce
1 tsp Fish Sauce
1 tsp Honey
1 tsp Ground Pepper
1 tsp Hot Pepper Sauce
1 tsp Umami Paste (found in the speciality food aisle)
1 Garlic Clove, minced

Prepare the Banana Flower by pulling off the outer leafes and reserving them to use as ‘Boats’.
Into a large bowl add the juice of 1 Lemon and 1 tsp Sea Salt. This will help prevent the Banana Flower from oxydising (going black)
Peel back layer by layer and discard the stamens (the baby bananas) under each leaf.

Shred the Banana Flower Petals finely and drop them into the Lemon Water. Leave to steep for 10 minutes.
Then drain and combine with the Onions and the dressing. Just before serving mix in the Basil and Mint leaves.

Drain the marinade off the Beef and reserve. Stir fry the Beef in a searingly hot Wok for a couple of minutes to leave them medium rare in the middle.
Add the reserved marinade and toss it together with the Beef.
Rest them in a bowl for a few minutes.

Place the Salad into the ‘Boats’ and nestle a couple of pieces of Beef on top of each one.
This will make a fabulous Appetiser for a dinner Party, but I’m enjoying them just as much right here right now and I am very pleased with my new discovery .

Beef Rendang

This dish is cooked in South East Asia on occasions to Celebrate. It is also regarded as the national dish of Indonesia.
What am I celebrating?
Today I am Celebrating Life!

A long list of Spices…. and along cookig time… a labour of Love and well worth it!

Ingredients:

1 kg diced Beef
100g Dessicated Coconut (or fresh grated)
3 Shallots
1 inch Ginger
1 inch Galangal
a few pieces of fresh Turmeric Root
2 Lemongrass Stalks
12 Garlic Cloves
7 long red Chillies
7 dried long red Kashmiri Chillies
7 Kafir Lime Leaves
1 Star Anise
1 Cinnamon Stick
1 Cassia Bark Stick
2 Black Cardamon
a grating of Nutmeg
1tbs Palm Sugar
1tbs Sea Salt
1 tin of Coconut Milk
 

Start by toasting the grated/dessicated coconut in a dry pan, stirring constantly until golden brown.
Tip it into a mini foodprocessor straight away and add the dried chillies and blend into a slightly coarse powder.
Add this to the pan you are going to cook the Randang in.

In the same food processor, blend the roughly chopped Shallots, Garlic, Ginger, Turmeric and the fresh Chillies with a little water to a paste/puree.
Add this to the pot together with the bashed up Lemongrass, torn Lime Leaves, Cardamon Pods, Cinnamon and Cassia Bark.
Grate in the Nutmeg and pour in the Coconut Milk.

Add the Beef and Season with Salt and Palm Sugar. Bring to a simmer and cover with a lid, leaving a small gap tp allow the Rendang to reduce.
Stir occasionally at the beginning and more frequently later on.
It takes about 2 1/2 to 3 hours of slow and low cooking.
Serve with Sticky Rice and be amazed.