Cook the World Week 8 - Japan

My husband LOVES ramen.  I cannot stress this enough.  He also loves to cook, but tends to choose really intricate recipes, which is why I do most of the "practical" cooking in our house.  He has been enjoying the "Cook the World" project, but this was the first week he decided to join us and single-handedly took on the planning and execution of making ramen from scratch.  I did some basic research on ramen, and all I concluded was that it is that there are a great many ways to prepare it depending on the region you are in.  If you are interested in attempting it - give yourself at least 12 hours lead time as this is how long it takes to make an authentic broth.  The meal itself was delicious, rich and flavourful but extremely labour intensive!  He took lots of pictures to document the journey - I hope you enjoy them.  Scroll down for recipes

 Recipes

Rich and Creamy Tonkotsu Ramen Broth Recipe
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/02/rich-and-creamy-tonkotsu-ramen-broth-from-scratch-recipe.html

Chashu Pork (Marinated Braised Pork Belly for Tonkotsu Ramen) Recipe
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/03/chashu-pork-marinated-braised-pork-belly-for-tonkotsu-ramen-recipe.html

Japanese Marinated Soft Boiled Egg for Ramen (Ajitsuke Tamago) Recipe
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/03/ajitsuke-tamago-japanese-marinated-soft-boiled-egg-recipe.html

Cook the World Week 7 - Seychelles

Between my extensive travels and time spent in the Caribbean, I thought I was pretty well-versed in Island fare.  I was absolutely blown away by the diversity of flavour and ingredients used in the recipes my father prepare for the Seychelles.  When he said he was making a coconut shrimp curry and a "surprise" seafood dish - I was a little apprehensive.  I'm a weary seafood consumer at best - I completely credit my husband for teaching me to try things again.  Our tastes change, but sometimes we are so set in our ways that we hesitate to try "bad" things again.  I always relate it to the way children feel about mushrooms - most of them hate them!  But if you research this - there is a very good reason why most children hate mushrooms - because there are so many varieties of poisonous mushrooms in the world and therefore they instinctively avoid them.  Pretty cool, huh?  It also explains why they don't like vegetables - that bitter taste is also a sign of poison.  But I digress...

The coconut curry shrimp was fantastic - but my dad has made several varieties of this same dish for me in the past, so that was no surprise.  The stand-out dish this week was the Santini Poisson; basically a really, really cool tuna salad.  Again, if this does not sound appealing to you - give it a go! It was packed with incredible texture, flavour and a combination of ingredients that I would never have thought to combine, but worked out fabulously.  I ate a generous helping at dinner, put it on a bagel for lunch the next day and even brought the leftovers to work to share with my colleagues (all of whom were just as impressed as I was).  Scroll down for Recipes

Recipes

Santini Poisson

https://crowdeeze.com/seychelles-santini-poisson/

Coconut Curry

https://crowdeeze.com/cook-the-world-seychelles-coconut-curry/

Cook the World Week 6 - Pakistan

This week was another one that I very much looked forward to researching and cooking.  My first endeavor was to try to understand how and why Pakistani cuisine differed from Indian cuisine as they are both favourites of mine (and seem very similar).  After reading and discussing this concept with friends and colleagues (many of whom are Indian and Pakistani), I concluded that the main difference is the vegetarian and non-vegetarian cultures in each country.  For example, here in Canada, most people commonly think of Butter Chicken or Tandoori Chicken as the most popular Indian dishes - but most of my Indian colleagues are completely vegetarian!  It's also common to see restaurants that have a blend of both since of course Northern Indian cuisine is extremely similar to Pakistani cuisine.  With that in mind, I chose to make traditional Beef Kebabs, Pakoras and Mango Lassis for our dinner.

I have to say that I am incredibly thrilled with how everything turned out.  I followed the recipes almost exactly and after failing at Butter Chicken so many times, this was a very turn of events.  The kebabs were fragrant and delicious and the pakoras may have been the best things I've ever tasted (even compared to restaurants) - the mango lassis perfectly balanced the spice and heat of the meal.  Everything was so good, that I made pakoras again a few days later!  (Scroll down for recipes)

Recipes

Kebabs

https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/08/seekh-kebab-spiced-grilled-ground-beef-lamb-skewer-recipe.html

Pakoras

https://beckykeepshouse.com/pakistani-pakora/

Mango Lassi

https://ethnicspoon.com/lassi/

Cook the World Week 5 - Nigeria

Western African cuisine is unique in that it combines so many different cultures of the area.  This week's country was Nigeria and my dad chose to make Jollof Rice and Suya Chicken as they were the recipes that came up time and again throughout his research.  The Jollof rice has a really fragrant spice blend and keeps it's moisture because of the tomatoes.  The Suya chicken was simple yet flavourful and quite addictive!  Overall, it was a hearty dinner for a cold winter night. (Scroll down for recipes)

Suya Chicken

 Jollaf Rice

Recipes:

https://crowdeeze.com/cook-the-world-nigeria-jollof-rice-and-suya-chicken/