About

Upside-down Cooking

I recently found myself living in New Zealand. I think the world of this country and am fortunate to get to spend some time here. The people are lovely and the country lives up to it's reputation in terms of natural beauty and awe inspiring landscapes.

Beyond the obvious fact that I am literally upside-down at the bottom of the southern hemisphere my routines and day to day life were also turned upside-down in the move from Canada. As that relates to cooking, something that is now very obvious to me is that the ingredients and flavours that I have come to rely on in my cooking at home are not the same when I am living abroad. Don't get me wrong, Canada and NZ are not worlds apart on the culinary / cultural spectrum, but I think that anyone who is a passionate cook will appreciate just how much the subtle differences in what is available in your new local store will impact your cooking. More so, there are subtle variations in the taste of items that you take for a given in one locale that aren't that close in the new locale. Add in local seasonality and local items and a whole new world opens up in your cooking. Or in other words, you're cooking upside-down.

The recipes posted here have a few goals:

To share the recipes that I love with anyone who is interested in them
To keep the ingredients simple. That's a promise. I will do my best to make sure that the ingredients in my recipes can be found relatively easily. I may push you to visit a local Asian grocery store for some of the dishes but by and large what you need should be available in most traditional grocers.
I'll weigh in on substitutions. Nothing like trying to make a recipe, not being able to find something and then getting frustrated.

Comments

Chicken Paprikesh

One thing we all appreciate about chicken is how nicely it can be transformed into something awesome and in pretty short order. This dish certainly fits that bill. It won't take you much more than 25 minutes to prepare and I'm confident how pleasantly surprised you'll be with the work / reward ratio of this dish. Key things to focus on are using a good smokey paprika and making sure you take the time to brown the onions well.

Gather the good stuff:1 Tbsp butter or better Chicken legs and thighs. Enough to fill a big pan. 2 or 3 Yellow onions - sliced. 1 Tbs of paprika. I use smoked but you can use regular paprika as well 1 cup chicken broth at room temperature1/2 cup sour cream Putting this together Cut your chicken into thighs and drumsticks. Pat dry and salt well. Meanwhile slice your onions and set aside. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a heavy pan on medium high heat . Fry chicken skin side down for 5 minutes or until skin easily lifts off the pan. Flip chicken and fry for another 3…

Loco Moco

The first time I had this I was on the big island of Hawaii and I had never heard of it before my now wife and I walked into a small diner in some tiny town that I can’t even remember the name of. I do remember that we had both had too much wine the night before and this particular menu item jumped right out at me as something that might help with that. I’ve since learned that this is the quintessential Hawaiian comfort food and if you decide to make it, you’ll appreciate why.
Key things to look out for: How you season the patty is going to greatly colour the dish. I like Cajun spices but you do you Don’t wipe out the pan in between the patties and the gravy. The fondant is exactly what you’re after when making a good gravy

Gather the good StuffPatties
Ground beef - enough for a few small patties. Probably about 400g or so. I like them on the thinner side but you do you Cajun seasoning to taste Garlic salt to taste Black pepper to taste 1 egg Gravy 1.5 cups beef broth 2 tbsp soy sauce …

Ma Po Tofu

If you have ever been to Asia you've likely come across this dish at some point. There's a thousand variations but all with a few key ingredients that really bring out the flavour that we are looking for here. I make this when it gets cold where we live. The heat and spice of this dish will bring you right back to life. If you want an authentic version, you're going to need to make a stop at an Asian grocer. The ingredients you'll find in a standard grocery store won't work nearly as well. Especially the Do-Chi and the Dou-ban-jiang which are crucial to getting this right.
Gather the Good stuff 300-400g Tofu. (Don't use super firm tofu, you want it a little soft). Often, especially at Asian grocery stores you can find a variety called Silken Tofu. I happen to think it is perfect but you do you. 100-200g minced pork (you can substitute beef as well)1.5 Tbsp Dou Chi - Little fermented asian black beans. 1 Tbsp Doubanjiang (or for the spicier version La-doubanjiang…

Upside Down Cooking

Search This Blog