CRIZ BON APPETITE

Not many people are aware of the benefits you would get by occasionally having Aspic in your diet. Aspic would normally consist of well cooked items such as meat, seafood, vegetables or even fruits in a jellied meat stock. It’s a healthy calcium-packed cold appetizer where the natural gelatin in the meat stock would boast stronger joints and bones. I have created a recipe here where I had infused this Russian style staple food with some twists by using some Japanese ingredients. Let’s enjoy this SEAFOOD ASPIC WITH FRUITS & VEGETABLES recipe for a healthier lifestyle. 🙂

Here’s the recipe for making the meat stock which eventually after chilled would become the aspic.

INGREDIENTS:

GELATIN MEAT STOCK:
1kg chicken feet (wash with salt and drain well)
1 big carrot (roughly chop up)
1 large onion (roughly chop up)
1 stalk celery (roughly chop up)
250gms jicama (roughly chop up)
3 small bay leaves
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2L water

As each individual would have their own cooked items to add in the aspic, I would just show you what cooked items I’ve used as below:
Chuka Idako (Japanese seasoned baby octopus)
Baby shrimps
Crab Meat
Ebiko
Seedless grapes
Blanched carrot
Blanched broccoli

PREPARATIONS:
• Bring 2L of water to boil in a pressure cooker.
• Add in all the ingredients above and pressurized under MEDIUM-LOW fire for 20 minutes.
• After the pressure has been released from the cooker about 10-15 minutes later, use a cloth sieve to filter out the cooked items. You would get about 1L of meat stock.
(Alternatively, you can use a normal stove and boil the ingredients under MEDIUM-LOW fire until you get half the portion left, meaning from 2L of liquid until 1L left.)
• Get a deep bowl/plate/any container of your preference.
• Lay your cooked ingredients of your choice layer by layer in the container, leaving the heaviest last as it would prevent the lighter cooked ingredient from floating up.
• Pour the meat stock into the container slowly until it covers just at the last ingredient.
• Chill for 2-3 hours for the natural gelatin to harden.
• When the dish is ready, turn it upside down on a flat plate.
• Serve chilled.

Note: The balance of the meat stock can be stored in the freezer and reused by adding in other ingredients as another soup.

(Serves: 1-10)

YOU CAN CHECK HERE FOR MORE RECIPES.

Malaysia is a country with an abundant variety of tropical fruits such as durians, rambutans, mangoes, guavas, papayas, pineapples, coconuts, pomelos and many more. At any time of the year, you can get many different spread of fruits on your dining table without much hassle. Other than having the fruits as desserts or as a source of fiber for better bowel system, what would you do with them especially when you have some delicious mangoes from the plantation in Alor Setar and some juicy sweet pomelos from Tambun, Ipoh, Perak, both major exporter of their respective fruit in Malaysia? Most people would just take them as they are but for me, I’m a bit more adventurous. I made them into SPICY POMELO MANGO SALAD.

If you are in an Asia Pacific region, getting the fresh ingredients would be quite easy. In the case of foreign countries, the best alternative would be from Chinatown or any of the Chinese grocery stores. Let us now look at the required ingredients and how easy it is to prepare this delicious salad. I have attached an animated view of the ingredients below to let you have a look on how they are cut.

MAIN INGREDIENTS:
1/2 pomelo (about 6-7 segments – use flesh only and slightly peel apart)
1 big unripe mango (about 300gm – cut into strips)
5 shallots (slice thinly)
5 kaffir lime leaves (slice thinly)
100gms water chestnut (dice)
50gms dried shrimps (soak, dice and slightly pound)
10 bird’s eye chili pepper (cut thinly)
25gms peanuts (roasted and crushed)
10gms sesame seeds (toasted)
2 stalks coriander (pluck the leaves)

DRESSING:
4 Tbsp lime juice
4 Tbsp plum sauce
2-3 Tbsp fish sauce
3-4 Tbsp fine sugar

GARNISHING:
Leave a bit of the roasted and crushed peanuts, toasted sesame and coriander leaves as garnishes.

OPTIONAL:
50gms cuttlefish strips (oil fry and drain well – to replace dried shrimps)
1 inch lemon grass stalk (chopped finely)
1 red chillies (dice finely for the extra color)
1 tsp ginger flower bud (chopped)
1 clove garlic (chopped)

PREPARATION:
1. Mix the dressing thoroughly and adjust according to your taste as some may like the salad to be a bit salty (fish sauce) or sweet (sugar). Please note that some brands of plum sauce are already sweetened.
2. Mix the first 7 ingredients in a salad bowl, occasionally adding in a spoonful of the dressing to taste. Lastly, add in the last 3 ingredients. Please do not over stir the ingredients as it might cause the dish to be watery.
3. Garnish with the reserved items mention above.
4. Best serve while the fruits and vegetables are chilled prior to mixing.
5. Serve immediately to maintain the crunchiness of the ingredients.

(Serves: 6-8)

Note: It is not necessary to add in all the optional items but you can do so if you prefer a more spicy concoction. The bird’s eye chili (cili padi) can be replaced by any other chili pepper you would prefer as not many people can stand the hotness from this small sized fella. You can use mangoes that are slightly ripe (as I did) if you are not in for so much of sourness.

YOU CAN CHECK HERE FOR MORE RECIPES.

Spicy Pomelo Mango Salad