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Squid Pakora Appetizer Recipe

Pakoras are an Indian snack consisting of various vegetables, and sometimes meats, mixed with a batter (usually seasoned with spices) and then deep fried. I don’t believe I have ever seen a recipe anywhere that actually uses squid in Pakoras before, but Shrimp are often used, so Squid seemed like something worth trying to me.

Steamed Beef-Balls at May Garden in Bedford, Nova Scotia

I have mentioned elsewhere that the May Garden Restaurant in Bedford, Nova Scotia does a lovely Dim Sum service on weekends featuring some excellent dishes. Most notable of these was their Steamed Squid which, to date, is the best I have ever been served. Not all of their offerings are quite this good however, and, at the other end of the scale, their Steamed Beef-Balls, shown above, proved to be the worst example of this dish I have come across.

Sambal Terasi Spice Paste Recipe

Recently, I posted a recipe for Sambal Belacan, which is a chili based Malaysian Spice Paste incorporating Belacan, a Dried Fermented Shrimp product. Sambal Terasi is the Indonesian equivalent of this paste, with ‘Terasi’ being the Indonesian name for Belacan. This interpretation is a very basic one, using only 5 ingredients, and it is extremely fiery.

Squid Stir-fried at the Double Greeting Wonton House in Edmonton

I tried a number of dishes at Double Greeting Wonton House in Edmonton. Some were very good, and a few less so. The Squid Stir-fried here as a Side Dish was very nicely prepared with Chives in a light sauce. It used Semi-Dried Squid rather than fresh, and the result was both tender and tasty.

Sarawak Curry with Lamb Recipe

The Lamb Curry you see pictured above features my home-made Malaysian style Sambal Belacan as a curry paste, and, given the spirit of the dish, I have named it after Sarawak, which is a state in Malaysia. I don’t know if they actually cook anything like this there but obviously they are going to have to start now…

Bean-Curd Roll at May Garden in Bedford, Nova Scotia

The May Garden Restaurant in Bedford, Nova Scotia does a very nice Dim Sum menu on the weekends, and many of the dishes available are excellent. Their Bean-Curd Roll with Shrimp was prepared a little differently than is common, but the result was very taste and pleasant nevertheless.

Fenugreek a.k.a. Methi

The plant known as Fenugreek is widely used all over the Indian sub-continent, where it is known as Methi. All parts of the plant are used and it is consumed both as a vegetable, and also as an herb and spice seasoning in all sorts of recipes. It is till not commonly used by Western cooks, but it is becoming increasingly more widely available and is well worth investigating for use in your own recipes.

Read More → In: Notable Restaurant Dishes

Yuxiang Eggplant at Le Piment Rouge in Montreal

I have had many occasions to post some fairly scathing reviews of dishes I sampled at the now defunct Piment Rouge Restaurant in Montreal. What had once been a high-end restaurant went into noticeable decline in its final days and this showed in both service and food quality. The Yuxiang Eggplant Appetizer you see above, however, was on of the few dish I ate there that was actually pretty good.

Larb Stuffed Endive Boats

Larb, or ‘Laab’ as it sometimes spelled, is a cold salad of meat, herbs and other seasonings that is not only reckoned to be the national dish of Laos but also quite common in Thailand as well. The meat is often beef or pork, sometimes raw, sometimes cooked, but fish and poultry version exist as well. Often, this is served in a bowl with lettuce or other leaves for wraps, but, here, I have used the basic recipe theme to pre-stuff endive leaves as a simple, but tasty appetizer.

Read More → In: Notable Restaurant Dishes

Duck-Tongue and Hog-Guts at the Juxianyuan Restaurant

After sampling the Grilled Squid at the now defunct Juxianyuan Restaurant in Ottawa’s Chinatown, I returned a few days later for more of their Northern Chinese Barbecue specialties, all of which are broiled with a dusting of dried Chili and Cumin. I tried three items, actually, but the first two seen pictured above were Duck Tongues and Hog-Guts (although, on the menu these were just referred to as ‘Pig Intestines’.