I have not made nearly enough curries or South East Asian food lately, so Beef Rendang was a good choice for this week’s date night.
Rendang originated in Indonesia and spread to Malaysia and Singapore when the Minangkabau settlers migrated to those countries. This is a slow cooked dry curry, rich with spices and full of flavour.
Laksa is a popular noodle soup in Malaysia, Indonesia and Southern Thailand. We love soup, noodles and curry, so I decided to make a Malaysian curry laksa for this week’s date night starter. There are many versions of this dish and I opted for Penang Curry Mee.
Lamb Kleftiko is a traditional Greek dish of lamb slowly cooked in parchment paper. The name originates from the word “Klepht” (meaning thief). Klephts were highwaymen who stole lambs and cooked it in sealed pits to avoid detection.
As we are not huge dessert people, I am always looking for dessert recipes that are not too sweet and can be whipped up in a couple of minutes. This recipe for Ricotta with Honey, Cinnamon and Berries was perfect for Greek date night.
Avgolemono is an egg lemon sauce that I have wanted to make for ages. As this week was Greek date night, it was the perfect occasion to make a traditional Greek meatball soup that incorporates this sauce.
“Rabo Encendido” roughly translates to “Tail on Fire”. This is a bit deceiving as there are no chillies or even pepper in this Cuban oxtail stew ( traditional Cuban dishes aren’t hot). Feel free to add hot sauce if you want a bit of a kick.
People tend to associate ramen noodles with the dried noodles you zap in the microwave for a quick cheap meal. This does not compare with freshly made Japanese ramen noodles.
Ramen also refers to the Japanese dish of noodles served in a broth and topped with meat and/or vegetables. I decided to make ramen noodles with a miso broth and miso roasted pork belly for this week’s date night.
I’ve been doing the chicken, mango and pasta potjie and various versions of it for quite a while, but never documented the recipe. So here goes. It is a very simple potjie that can be done in 2 hours’ time. It is delicious, but definitely not a banting option.
Feijoada is considered to be the national dish of Brazil. Pork and beans are slowly cooked and served with rice, collard greens and orange slices.
A dish of Portugese origin, it is said that slaves would make this dish out of pork leftovers and black beans. Pig ears, feet and tails are traditionally used in this dish – I opted to leave it out of my version.