COOKING, some say, is an art. I wholeheartedly concur. There’s a brilliance in matching food flavours, making it wholesome yet appetising, while satisfying a myriad of discerning palates.
It’s a fun but gargantuan task when planning a meal for 10-15 people but what happens when it’s impromptu? What if it’s 7pm and three cars full of hungry people land on your doorstep with the unspoken expectation of a meal and you haven’t anticipated it? Ah, here’s where I come in with tips and recipes to alleviate your stress. Provided, of course, your kitchen’s stocked with a few essential staples. And of course, a working stove, grill or oven (yes, that certainly helps!) and hopefully, a rice cooker. Now, let me give you options on what sort of meals you can cook to feed a dozen people without breaking a sweat.
This is when you cook 4-6 cups of rice (or more). Rummage through your fridge and see if you can scrounge up ingredients for a curry in a hurry and one or two accompanying dishes. For the curry in a hurry:
Heat half a cup of cooking oil in a large pot. Sautee sliced shallots and garlic till fragrant then add 2 packets (small) of curry powder and 4-5 tablespoons of chilli powder made into a thick paste. Let it brown on medium heat. When fragrant, add a cup of water, then either a large chopped chicken or 2 small ones. And add 2-3 cubed potatoes. Let it boil before adding 2 boxes of coconut milk. Partially cover the pot to let it all simmer for around 15 minutes and cook to perfection. Add tomatoes and juice from 2 limes 5 minutes before you take it off the heat. For the quick salad:
So, while the curry boils, dice 2 cucumbers, 2 onions, 3 red chillies and a can of pineapples. Mix them up, add a pinch of salt and squeeze the juice of 1 lime. Let that steep in the fridge. Three plus points: 1. If you happen to have a packet or two of papadoms, place them on a large plate (don’t overlap) and zap them in the microwave for 10-15 seconds to crisp them. 2. If you don’t have rice (which is odd!), grill a large pack of sandwich bread slices in the oven to crisp them for dipping them in hot curry. 3. For aesthetic reasons and a touch of flavour, colour the rice with a dash of turmeric powder while it’s boiling.
I actually enjoy making fritters and it’s been my tried and tested menu when entertaining a large number of guests. For the fritters:
Mix 4 cups of flour and water or milk into a pouring cream consistency (or slightly thicker). Add half teaspoon of baking soda, then salt and pepper to taste.
Then, depending on what you have available, add julienned or chopped fillings such as carrots, leek, spring onion, tofu, canned corn, fresh or dried shrimp, dried anchovies, onion and red chilli. Heat up half a wok of cooking oil till very hot and use a large ladle to spread the batter mix into the oil. Spread well to keep them thin and around 5cm in diameter. For the dip: A mix of chilli and tomato sauce will do. Or mayonnaise or a cream-based salad dressing. Be creative and keep mixing till you think it tastes right. Three plus points: 1. For appetisers, I make them bite-sized, and for meals I make them large and slightly flat to maintain a crisp texture. 2. If you have peanut butter, water it down with hot water into a thick, sauce consistency, for an alternative dip. 3. This can be a vegetarian alternative if you simply remove any protein elements and stick to vegetables.
Here are cold sandwich recipes where you merely prepare the fillings and let your guests assemble their own sandwich. It’s great for really muggy, hot evenings and making your own sandwich sure can be fun. For the two fillings: For the first one, open up 3-4 cans of sardines. More, if you have it. Throw away all of the tomato sauce — the leftover clinging on the fish will suffice. Add salt, pepper and the juice of 1-2 lime and mix. Then for the second filling, boil 10 eggs, rinse in cold water, peel and roughly chop, add salt, pepper and mix. Add chopped spring onions and red chilli, if you have them. Then add 3-4 tablespoons of mayonnaise or creamy salad dressing. To assemble the sandwich and accompany the fillings: Depending on what you have, slice 2-3 cucumbers, 4-5 tomatoes and 4-5 onions. Separate salad leaves. Two plus points: 1. In the absence of mayonnaise or creamy salad dressing, margarine or butter work too with the egg filling. Basically, you want an agent to hold the chopped eggs together. 2. You can roughly slice cucumber, chilli and onion and mix it all into the sardine filling instead, to give it a crunchy texture.
As always, I keep desserts extremely simple. If you have a tub of vanilla ice cream in the fridge, chop up the banana or open up cans of fruit and spoon them together. Otherwise, try this recipe and see if it works for you. For banana meltdown: Halve 10 bananas and warm them under medium heat in the microwave. Heat a pot with 10 tablespoons of sugar, juice of half a lime and half a large cup of water till it’s thick and slightly brown. Arrange warmed banana halves on a large serving plate, trickle all the syrup and sprinkle chopped peanuts on top. Three plus points: 1. Alternatively, you can pan fry the halved bananas in a little butter and caramelise the sugar over them. Sprinkle chopped peanuts before serving. 2. If you have a large bar of chocolate, shave and melt it over a water bath (bain marie) before trickling it over the warmed or sauteed banana halves. 3. Vanilla ice cream will certainly help to dress this dessert.
CHASE IT DOWN WITH ICE COLD TEAS
Iced lime tea: Besides water, you’d have an option of brewing 5 bags of tea in a teapot, add 6-8 tablespoons (or more) of sugar before watering it down to 2-3 half-full jugs with cold water. Then add juice of 1 lime or half a lemon into each jug and top up with ice. Lemon grass tea: Bruise 4-5 lemongrass (bottom half), steep in a pot of hot water. Add 6-8 tablespoons (or more) of sugar before watering it down to 2-3 jugs with cold water and top up with ice. Three plus points: 1. Repeat lemongrass tea recipe and simply replace lemongrass with a bunch of mint leaves for mint tea. 2. Or replace mint leaves with thickly sliced and bruised ginger for ginger tea. 3. For cinnamon tea, using the measurements of iced lime tea, simply steep 4-5 sticks of cinnamon with tea before watering it down and topping with ice. Yes, do exclude the lime!
As with most parties revolving around a meal, it’s actually very seldom about the food — although good food does help enhance the event — but it’s really about togetherness, communal eating and great conversation. If you can remember that, you’ll stop sweating about the food and start setting the scene for fun. Here are some tips to achieve that scene: • Make it a buffet. Unless you’ve got a 20-seater dining table (then really, call Room Service or order up half a dozen large pizzas already!), buffets help keep the ambience casual and mingling becomes inevitable. • Spill out to the outdoors. Open those French doors, spread out whatever chairs you’ve got and even encourage sitting on cushions on the floor. • Keep to easy-to-handle food, the sort that doesn’t require tedious use of utensils and many plate changes (which in turn minimise dish washing). • Turn off the television. Tune in your iPod or a radio station and let the music flow all night long.
Malaysia kitchen staples: • Carbohydrate: Rice, flour, mee hoon, bread, potatoes, papadom or fish crackers. • Protein: Chicken, tofu, dried anchovies, dried shrimps, canned sardines, eggs. • Spices: Salt, pepper, curry powder, chilli powder. • Vegetables: Cucumber, carrots or any long-keeping vegetables. • Fruit: Banana, papaya, canned lychee, longan and pineapple. • Miscellaneous: Peanuts, cooking oil, coconut milk, instant coffee, tea bags, ice, sugar, shallots, onions and garlic.
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