Recipe: Seared Tuna Salad with Asian Dressing

It's been a while since I posted a recipe for a salad. This dish is the perfect supper - light, packed with loads of nutrition, and a nice balance of flavours.  In this dish I paired baby spinach leaves with rocket, mizuna and other mesclun greens, but feel free to mix it up according to your taste.The key to the success of this dish is the quality of the fish, so only attempt to make it if you can get a decent piece of tuna, preferably sustainably sourced.

Serves 4

Ingredients:
Dressing:
1 tsp sesame seeds
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1-2 tbsps. of best quality soy sauce such as Kikkoman
1 tbsp lime juice
1 teaspoon grated young ginger
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 teaspoon Chinese mustard
1 tablespoon chopped coriander (leaves only)
3 tbsp olive or canola oil
2-3 drops of dark sesame oil
Pepper, sugar and salt

In a dry skillet over low heat, toast sesame seeds until lightly brown. Remove from heat and cool. Add dressing ingredients and whisk until emulsified. Add a dash of pepper, a pinch or two of sugar and salt, to taste.

Salad:

4 tuna steaks, about 1 inch thick
Sea salt and pepper
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1/3 cup sesame seeds
4 cups loosely packed mixed salad leaves (baby spinach and rocket recommended)
2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes
1 bunch spring onions, chopped
1 seedless navel orange, peeled, pith removed and cut into sections
1/2 cup fried crispy yee mein noodles
1/4 cup smoked almonds

Place tuna on clean chopping board. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Drizzle sesame oil lightly over tuna steaks. Place sesame seeds on a plate. Coat tuna with sesame seeds.

Heat a dry skillet over high heat. Sear tuna for about a minute or so on each side for rare, or 2-3 minutes for medium done. Remove from heat and let rest on chopping board while you prep the salad.

Toss salad leaves, cherry tomatoes and spring onions in large bowl with about 3-4 tbsps of the dressing. Divide salad among four plates. Slice tuna thinly and place on top of salad. Top with noodles, almonds and orange sections. Serve immediately.

Ugly Duckling & the Swan - Recipes: Steamed Meat Cake and Salmon with Black Bean Sauce

In the food world, the story of the Ugly Duckling and the Swan is also often played out. There are just some dishes which do not stand up particularly well presentation-wise, but are nonetheless delicious. Take the Chinese steamed meat cake, which is a staple in most Chinese homes. Simple ingredients, clean in taste, it used to be one of the dishes I would ask for as a kid when I was sick. Unfortunately, it also happens to look...well, like a pale, diseased lump of clay. I promise you however that it tastes much better than it looks.

Ingredients:
500 g of minced pork, with a little fat
1 tbsp tung choy (preserved vegetable) or spring onion, minced
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
2 tsps sesame oil
2 tsps Shao Xing wine
Dash pepper
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp corn starch

1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup water

Combine minced pork with the seasoning ingredients and mix well with your hands. Press mixture into glass pie or steaming plate. Add in egg and pour in water to cover. Steam over high heat for about 10-15 minutes. Serve hot

And then you have dishes such as pan-fried salmon, with its lovely pink colour and crsip skin. Garnish it with a couple of springs of coriander and the whole thing looks pretty elegant and dinner-party ready. Seems rather unfair doesn't it, that some dishes are just "born beautiful" (haha), regardless of the chef.

I made a black bean garlic sauce to accompany the fish.

Ingredients:
Sesame oil to glaze
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp minced garlic
2 tsps minced spring onions
3 tsps sherry or Shao Xing wine
1 tbsp black bean garlic sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
2 tsps sugar
1/4 cup water

In the same pan used to fry your fish, drain off excess oil and drizzle sesame oil to glaze the pan. Stir fry ginger, garlic and spring onions until fragrant, add wine, black bean garlic sauce, oyster sauce and sugar. Add water and boil for a couple of minutes until the sauce reaches the consistency you like. Serve over fish or on the side.

Recipe: Warm rocket and baby spinach salad with seared scallops and bacon

The great thing about salads is that they are one of the most versatile meals to prepare. The chef is at liberty to mix and match the components that go into the salad according to the preferences of his/her guests. I had the pleasure of the company of one of my best friends in Singapore, G, yesterday. G shares my love for Italian food, dogs and movies. She also has some of the cutest expressions to describe everyday phenomena among anyone I know.

Let me illustrate. We were shopping for dinnerware for last year's Christmas party. She asked why we couldn't use the existing ones that I have which are quite frankly rather shabby.

Me: It's important that they all match.

G: Yeah, so they have to be a bit atas-lah.

Me: I guess the ones I have are a bit bawah.

"Atas" being the Malay world for Up or upper, as opposed to "bawah" or down.

Anyways, G was a little under the weather so I decided a simple meal of soup and salad was probably best.

This salad is an adaptation of a Jamie Oliver original. The combination of the sweetness from the slightly charred red onions, the bitterness from the rocket, the saltiness from the bacon and the tartness from the balsamic vinegar makes this not just tasty, but visually appealing. Key to the success of this dish is speed and concentration. I do not recommend making this dish while you are multi tasking. The wild mushroom soup I had on the other burner suffered neglect, for example, as I let too much of the liquid evaporate and it ended up a bit salty by the time I got to it. So give this dish your all, and you will be rewarded with what is, in my opinion, quite a classy, atas dish.

Serves 2-3 as a starter

Ingredients:

1 pack of wild rocket leaves

1 pack of baby spinach leaves

3 medium sized red onions, cut into wedges

4 nos. sundried tomatoes in oil, sliced thinly

A handful of pinenuts

2-3 sticks of thyme

2 pieces of streaky bacon

4-5 scallops per person, drained and patted dry with paper towels

Extra virgin olive oil

The best quality balsamic vinegar you have

Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

A few sprinkles of Parmesan (optional)

Method:

Heat a non-stick skillet on medium-high with about two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. In the meantime, season your scallops with seasoning of your choice (for example, cajun seasoning, lemon and pepper, etc. I used Montreal steak seasoning). Place your salad leaves in a large bowl. When hot, add bacon to the pan and cook until crisp. Remove and drain on paper towels. Crumble into pieces. Add to the pan the scallops and shake them around. Cook until they turn opaque, dish up and keep warm. (Don't overcook - you want your scallops succulent and just done) Now throw in your thyme sprigs, and red onions and season with sea salt and black pepper. (Remember that your bacon and scallops are already salted, so don't be too liberal). After about three-five minutes add in your pine nuts, stir around. Working quickly, tip the onions, thyme and pine nuts into the salad bowl. Add your sun dried tomatoes. Drizzle some balsamic vinegar and additional extra virgin olive oil if necessary. Toss around to wilt a little and season to taste.

Presentation - Divide salad among plates, garnish with bacon bits and a sprinkling of Pamersan and top with scallops. Serve immediately.