Taste Your Memories: with Nagesh Seethiah

Siying's recipe:

Steamed ribs with rice powder 粉蒸排骨

Ingredients:

• The rice powder: 

1. Glutinous rice and Round rice (Arborio or basmati) (2:1 proportion)
2. Five spice powder (1 tbs)

* You can also buy the ready-made powder in Asian groceries. There are many different packaging styles. Here are some photos of these products that you may see in the shops. 

• Pork ribs 500g 
• Ginger x 3 slices
• Shallots x 3
• Sauces 

1. Soy sauce x 4 tbs
2. Dark soy sauce x 1tsb
3. White pepper x few
4. Salt or chicken bouillon powder x 1 tsp
5. Chinese cooking wine x 2 tbs

Methods:

• The rice powder

1. Soak both glutinous rice and round rice in cold water for at least 24hr *soak the rice the longer the better
2. Warm the pot and put round rice in and stir. 
3. Stir for a while then add glutinous rice
4. Keep stirring till the rice turns into golden colour
5. Grind them into fine particles 
6. Mix in five spice

•  Marinate ribs

1. Chop the ribs into small pieces, around 5cm long.
2. Chop ginger and shallots into small fine pieces
3. Mix them with ribs in a bowl
4. Add all sauces in and soak for 3-4 hr

1. Dip each rib into the rice powder. Make sure the powder covers all surfaces. Then, place it in a bowl.
2. Lay the ribs inside the bowl into multiple layers. Sprinkle a thin layer of the powder between the layers.
3. Once finish laying the last top rib layer, top up the bowl with the rest of the powder and pour in the left juice from marination.
4. Put the bowl in the steamer for about 2-3 hours. Start in high heat. Turn down to the low after the water is boiled. 

Nagesh's recipe:

Mauritian Taro Fritters & Fermented Chilli Sauce (Gateau Arouille) 毛里求斯炸芋圆和酿辣椒酱

Ingredients 食材:

• Fritters 炸芋圆 

1. 500g taro root  (large taro root, avail at Asian supermarkets and vendors at markets) 大芋头 500克
2. 30g ginger 生姜 30克
3. 30g shallots  葱 30克
4. 3-4 tablespoon corn flour 玉米粉 4 勺
5. ½ teaspoon raw sugar 红糖 ½茶匙
6. 1 teaspoon salt 盐 1茶匙
7. Oil for deep frying (anything EXCEPT olive oil) 油

• Chilli sauce - make at least week ahead (or use Sriracha) 辣椒酱。可以提前一个星期做。 或者买现成的是拉差香甜辣椒酱

1. 400g long red chillies 长红椒 400克
2. 100g birds eye chillies 小红椒 100克
3. Salt - 2% weight of water 盐 – 2%水的重量
4. Water (filtered or boiled & cooled) 过滤水或冷却的开水
5. 3 cloves garlic, peeled 蒜瓣 3个
6. Vinegar 白醋适量

Method 做法：

• For the chilli sauce 辣椒酱 （提前一个星期做）

1. Wash chillies and take off stems. Roughly chop chillies to a similar size. Cram chillies and garlic into a sterilised jar. 辣椒洗干净。 去蒂。切小块。把辣椒和蒜瓣放到消毒的罐子里。罐子的大小要让辣椒和蒜挤满。
2. Add water to jar so that it covers the chillies. Pour out the water into a bowl set on。在罐子里加水。水要漫过辣椒。 再把水倒到一个碗里。
3. Scales. Take note of weight. Add 2% of that weight in salt. Whisk to dissolve thoroughly. 量水的重量。倒入2%水的重量的盐。搅拌让盐溶解.
4. Pour back into jar. Put lid on and leave to ferment on your kitchen bench. 把水倒回罐子里。盖子盖上.
5. About a week later, strain chillies from brine and reserve brine. Place chillies in a blender with half the brine and a dash of vinegar. Blend till very smooth. Taste, season with vinegar for acidity and salt or more brine.
6. 一个星期后。把辣椒从罐子捞出来。放入搅拌机，倒入一半酿的汁。加一些白醋。搅拌顺滑。尝一下。调整味道。如果淡的话，可以加点盐或醋。再搅拌.
7. You can strain the sauce for a smoother texture or leave it as is. 如果想让酱顺滑，可以让酱过滤一下.
8. Sriracha is also a perfect hot sauce for these fritters! 如果没空做辣椒酱，是拉差香甜辣椒酱也可以用来蘸这个炸芋圆.

• For the fritters 炸芋圆

1. Peel taro root and leave whole. Use the large holes on a box grater to grate the whole taro. You might want to wear gloves because the liquid can be mildly irritating. 芋头削皮。剥丝。用最大的孔剥。建议戴手套。
2. Add sugar and salt and mix thoroughly. 加糖和盐搅拌
3. Thinly slice shallots lengthwise. Peel and julienne ginger as finely as you can. Mix into taro mix. Start heating oil in a wok or saucepan to 180c. 葱姜切丝。放入芋头丝里搅拌。锅里开始热油.
4. Gradually add cornflour to the mix, mixing with your hands. The cornflour helps bind the mixture. You might need all four spoons or slightly more. 慢慢在芋头丝里加入玉米面。用手拌匀。 
5. Heat oil in a wok or saucepan to 180c. Fry a small tester fritter to check for seasoning. Adjust salt or sugar, they shouldn’t be too salty. 锅里的油到180度后。开始炸。可以先炸一小块。尝一下味道。
6. Form small 30g balls from the mixture. Make all the balls before beginning to fry. 把拌好的丝做成30克的小球。在锅里炸.
7. Fry a few fritters at a time, making sure not to crowd them. Fry until crispy and golden brown, about 3 - 4 minutes. The taro inside should be hot and chewy, not floury or crunchy. 一下不要炸太多。 等炸到金黄。一般3-4分钟，就炸好了。 
8. Serve immediately with chilli sauce. 吃的时候蘸辣椒酱.