The Food Canon

36-hours 55°C Sous Vide Short Rib

I have received a few requests to explain how the Sous Vide Magic (SVM) can be set up for home use.

I will gather all the essential info on SVM in this post.

The picture below illustrates how the set up is done. As you can see, the rice cooker, working as a water bath, is doing the cooking and the SVM is basically functioning as a temperature controller, switching the rice cooker on and off to do so.

This is a seriously good burger. No kidding.
Since I started cooking Sous Vide Short Rib Beef in earnest, I have always thought that it would go very well in a burger.

• It is firm and yet tender.
• Succulent and moist.
• The flavour is, of course, amazing. 

I finally got down to making a burger with it  it and it has wowed everyone who has tried it.

I was asked recently to help promote a "#CookforFamily" campaign, which will be launched in August. This is to help encourage eating at home as a family.

It was not difficult for me to say yes, as in part, this is what the blog is all about.

I have one wish which has yet to come true: believe it or not, I have always wanted to be a singer.

Yes, I have not dreamed of becoming a preacher or even a cook. But I have wished, again and again, that I could have a great singing voice.

Oh, don't I envy those soloists who could share a song in church to an admiring moved audience. To be a preacher is one thing. But to be a singer, that is quite another.

Baking?

The first recipe I ever tried making was Pandan Chiffon cake. I was about 13 then. I was an early adolescent about to discover the world. And I thought the world of Chiffon cakes was worth a shot. It was the latest craze in town then along with - if some of you can still remember - the so 70's Black Forest cake.

Guess what became of my Chiffon? It never saw the light of day. It did not rise. I tried to salvage it but it turned into some kind of pandan kuih. It was totally inedible..an outright failure.

I have learnt since then that baking needs a certain precision and methodical discipline. The density, viscosity, temperature, texture, salinity, timing etc all have to be accurate. Even the kind and size of baking trays matter. You need to know what you are doing.

I have said that I will blog some other variations of claypot rice recipes. I have cooked Rice Wine Chicken before and I thought it should work well as an idea for claypot chicken rice.

And it did.

Rice wine and ginger go very well together. And with some good fresh chicken and spring onions, it's hard to go wrong with this.

M'sian version of Indian Rojak: before the julienned veg and sauce are added

It is June vacation and I was in Melaka and Petaling Jaya (West Malaysia) recently.

Either my taste buds are changing or I did not try hard enough. But I have found it difficult to find something that is worthwhile blogging - or bragging - about. After all, I still have Malaysian roots.

That said, there were some sweet moments that are worth mentioning.