Global, Mobile Food

Hey, my beautiful PnQers.

I have been subtitling and dubbing for a translation company, and lately I've been working on a cooking show, which is a lot of fun. I learnt some really cool, new recipes. I have tried a few that I'm going to share soon.

And there's something else. I never thought mixing different cuisines in one meal could be this delicious. I tried the Japanese tacos, an Indian duck and dogs on a blanket (warning: very spicy, and no, not just the curry), Italian s'mores, saffron rice with galoustines, Moroccan sweet rolls (fondant plus crushed chocolate cookies plus vanilla soft served ice cream)... and many more. It was a brilliant experience!

Which inspired me to start this thread. Tell us what is the signature meal of your country? What kind of herbs, spices, bread do you use there? Is there any special ingredients you personally add that you think makes a meal more savory? Secret flavors? Drown me with ideas and deliciousness.

As a Syrian, I can say we include a lot of vegetables in our dishes. Our food is creamy and buttery and rich in flavors. We love eggs, parsley, lime juice, garlic, onions, clove, nuts. As for meat, we eat beef and ducks and chicken (not me, I have become 90% vegetarian, but in general).

Yesterday, I made rice with raisins and peas and carrots. As a sweet snack, I made for my boyfriend honey-coated granola bits. I am growing fonder of cooking and I love to cook for people I love.

Go on then. Share your recipes! I'll share a few, too.

This is so neat to read and I love how passionate you are in talking about it!
I really don't cook, although I'm teaching myself more and more to look up recipes that use limited ingredients so I don't feel overwhelmed or frustrated when shopping or understanding certain terms. There are so many things I could probably make homemade that I buy out of a bag or box instead and part of that has been bad habits and being afraid to step outside my comfort zone. I feel more comfortable baking, and often, it's in the middle of the night when I'm needing something sweet. There's some easy hacks like cake/sugar cookies in your mug sort of thing, using basic ingredients found around the house. Nothing too crafty. Although I do give myself props for using red pepper, garlic, parmesan cheese, and some other things on my grilled cheese....

Not much to contribute but I will be following this thread! Lovely idea to share :)

I would say the signature food of the USA is beef. It's consumed in the form of millions of hamburgers, steaks, ribs, brisket, pot roast, meatloaf to name a few. We grill, fry, slow cook, broil and bake it. We spice it with anything ranging from plain salt-&-pepper to exotic combinations of spices & sauces. We eat it with ketchup, potatoes, veggies and even lobster (Surf & Turf).

Of course, this entry is one dimensional and there are many foods that compete with beef for space on our menu, but IMHO beef ranks at the top.

Oh, Larry. Beef used to be one of my guilty pleasures. Beef with black bean sauce, beef with mustard and red wine, beef in lime sauce, beef burritos... yum. I mostly like it grilled or stir-fried.

A'right, here's a Syrian dish that you will find very hard to resist: Frikeh.

First bowl: we add chopped parsley, chopped mint, dill, spring onions, pureé garlic clove, cumin seeds, and chickpeas.
Second bowl: lemon juice, salt, cumin, paprika, garlic and olive oil. Mix them together.
In a pan, we toast the frikeh (green seeds very available), for 1 minute. Then throw it in a bowl of boiling water. Let it boil for 15 minutes, then drain the frikeh and then wash it with cold water.
Add the contents of the first bowl then the second bowl to the frikeh. Then add on the top smoked almonds, pomegranate seeds, toast and pumpkin seeds. Annnd fall in love with it.

That’s elaborate yet sounds delicious.
Do you mean “toasted pumpkin seeds”?

Yes.

Oh, and I tried your deviled eggs, 'Mericans. Wow!

England doesn't really have a particularly vast food culture, but as my mum is an adventurous cook and vegetarian, I've learnt a lot of dishes from her. My favourite thing is to make simple, (kinda carby) dishes which replaces the meat content with something vegetarian. I'm trying to avoid eating meat, and I think everyone should try cutting meat out of their meals for at least half a week. There's so much joy in vegetarian food you wouldn't believe!

Halloumi enchiladas are a favourite. Simply tray bake peppers, onions, a red chilli, and strips of halloumi covered in a mix of cumin, pepper, and paprika for about 25 minutes. Whilst you're doing that, cook some black beans with some garlic in one pan, and some brown rice in another. In the third pan, fry onions until soft, add cherry tomatoes, cumin, black pepper, and a tin of chopped tomatoes and let simmer. Once that's all done, fill about 6/8 tortilla wraps with the halloumi, peppers, onions, rice and beans. Fold them up into burritos and put into a tray. Pour your tomato sauce all over them, and put in the oven for about 10 minutes. Add grated cheese on top and put back into the oven for a further 5 minutes, and yes!

Danny, yummy! I will definitely try that one. If you have more vegetarian dishes, please share. I'm trying to find meals that have ingredients that make them taste like meat, because, gosh, I love the taste of meat. Do you like falafel?

MarryAnne, I love sweet baked goods. What is your favourite type of pastry? I have a 14-days holiday, and I'm gonna make brownies, pies (cherry crostata), stuffed buns (with date caramel... *swoon*).

So far, Indian food is my number one. So refreshing. I'd gladly trade the lining of my intestines for a hot spicy meal.

I love falafel! Falafel and hummus is one of my favourite combinations. :) Have you tried using a Portobello mushroom instead of a beef patty for a burger? If you caremalise onions, grill tomato, get some spinach and melt some cheese into the mushroom, you've got yourself a delicious and healthy burger. :)

Ah, I've never had falafel but have heard so many things about it!

Yum, that sounds amazing! Recently I've been more interested in pies, and I want to make some apple crumble maybe for the fall. Some of the time, we'll have extra fruit laying around the house, and it's nice to put it to good use if no one is going to eat it in time. I REALLY would love to learn how to make homemade cinnamon buns. I don't know if it's a lot of work and I'm sure there are some stellar recipes, it would be awesome to have them baked at home other than me just buying them at the store in the cans haha.

Vegetarian meals -- I have some great recipes for a moroccan tagine, plantain tacos, and pumpkin coconut curry.

Tagine (family size):

In a large heavy pot or Dutch Oven, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add 2 chopped onions and increase heat to medium-high. Saute for 5 minutes, tossing.
Add 10 minced garlic cloves, 2 chopped carrots, 2 cubed russet potatoes, 1 cubed sweet potato. Season with salt to taste, as well as 1 tbsp Harissa spice, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp ground turmeric. Toss to combine.
Cook for 5 minutes on medium-high heat, stirring regularly.
Add 2 cups canned whole peeled tomatoes, 1/2 cup roughly chopped dried apricots, and 1 quart vegetable broth.
Cook for 10 minutes, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for another 20 to 25 minutes until vegetables are tender.
Stir in 2 cups toasted chickpeas (toast them in a separate pan) and cook another 5 minutes on low heat.
Stir in lemon juice (one whole lemon) and a handful of rough chopped fresh parsley.
Taste -- add more salt or harissa spice blend as desired.
Plate with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Serve warm/hot! Enjoy :)

Tried the halloumi enchiladas. My rate: 7/10. Made it without the tomato sauce on top (not a fan of tomato sauce), over-fried the onions a liiittle bit, added tons if the cheese (I always add more cheese than what's written in the recipe, haha). Delicious, and easy to make. Thanks, Danny!

I'll see if I can make halloumi cheese at home. (I make cheese at home).

Yeah, MarryAnne. I stopped buying canned food, or fast food. I'm so in love with cooking at home with my boyfriend. We both like to learn new recipes and have fun trying them. He makes the yummiest hummus and chicken salad.
Also, it's way more healthy!

YUM. Mouth-watering. So trying it this weekend.

Noura...you say you make cheese..What types do you make and can you give some recipes. I'm hooked on Labneh which Nana introduced me to a while back (thank you N) I've also made paneer and ricotta a few times so looking to expand on my cheese making haha!!!

Jane...I have an actual tagine and find the cone shape of the top keeps everything more moist than a dutch oven will.

Going overseas for one of my favourite meals because I lived in Korea for a number of years...

Dak Galbi, spicy chicken of Chuncheon
PREP TIME:
20 minutes

COOK TIME:
15 minutes

YIELD:
4 servings

Ingredients

1 lb (450g) boneless, skinless chicken thigh, diced
1/2 lb (250g) Korean rice cake sticks
1/4-1/2 cabbage, diced
8-10 perilla leaves, sliced
1/2 large onion, sliced
1 medium sweet potato, sliced into 1/4" thick wedges
2 tablespoon grape seed or canola oil
2-4 tablespoon water
more perilla leaves and toasted sesame seeds to garnish
For the sauce:
3 tablespoon Korean chili paste
2 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoon Korean chili flakes
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ginger powder
2 tablespoon rice wine
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
dashes of pepper
1 tablespoon Korean corn syrup, optional
Directions

Combine all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Toss the chicken pieces with 1/2 the sauce and mix. Set aside.
Soak rice cakes in hot water until ready to use and drain.
Drizzle oil in a cast iron skillet, spread the chicken and top with vegetables (only 1/2 the amount of perilla leaves) and rice cakes. Drizzle the remaining sauce over and bring the skillet over med-high heat.
When you hear the loud sizzling noise from the skillet, toss to coat everything with the sauce. Continue to cook for about 2 minutes. Add the water to create steam to cook and reduce the heat to medium. Continue to cook, about 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
When chickens are cooked through and potatoes are tender, add the rest of the perilla leaves and heat through. Everything should be slightly browned at this stage.Toss gently so that you don't break the potatoes.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds and garnish with more perilla leaves. Serve hot.

*Perilla may be a difficult ingredient to source so fresh mint will work instead.

Some kimchi on the side, of course :)

EDIT

The rice cakes are not the round ones you may be more familiar with they are tubular shapes and sometimes called garaetteok

Yes, so so easy to make! It's kind of comfort food. No such thing as too much cheese :)

Hellon, that sounds awesome! I love Korean food. I LOVE kimchi!

Oh, making cheese is so easy, really. You take the whole fat milk (goat milk or cow milk), boil it, let it cool down (50C), then you should curdle the milk (parcipitate the casein protein in the milk by using an acidic solution with a pH that equals 4.6. Yep, everything is chemistry). So we add white vinegar or apple cidar vinegar verrry slowly and gradually, until the milk seperates. (For a paneer, you could lemon juice!).
Then you should get rid of the liquid layer, by using a sieve. We want the protein layer, the mushy solid layer.
This layer should be rinsed with cold water for at least a minute after that. Then add any flavor you like. I personally like black seeds, or thyme. Oh my god, thyme. You can add pepper or paprika or green and black olives (olives are brilliant).
Then we put the cheese in a piece of fabric and make the fabric like a... bag? And let it dry for an hour or two. Before putting it in the fridge, and tada! We have cheese.

I have tried mozzarella as well, and it was very good. When I'm home, I'll post the recipe.

But for the mozzarella, you need enzyme tablets.

I have a cheese making kit and the recipe and all ingredients (apart from the milk) are included so I'm going to give it a try soon :)

Danny....if you like kimchi I think you may also like this recipe. Koreans will eat certain foods at different times of the year. This recipe is eaten on rainy days but, it's so good I eat it anytime haha!!!

KImchi Jjigae

180 g skinless pork belly (0.4 pounds), cut into bite size pieces
1 Tbsp rice wine (mirin)
3 sprinkles ground black pepper
Kimchi & Others
3/4 cup aged Kimchi (at least 2 to 3 weeks old), cut into bite size pieces if not already
1/4 small brown onion (30 g / 1 ounce), thinly sliced
1/2 stalk small green onion (5 g / 0.2 ounce), thinly sliced
2 small shiitake mushrooms (50 g / 1.4 ounces), stems removed, thinly sliced
150 g firm tofu (5.3 ounces), sliced into 1cm thickness rectangles, or other shapes you may prefer
1 cup water
Jjigae base (mix these in a bowl)
1 Tbsp Korean chili flakes (gochugaru)
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp Korean chili paste (gochujang)
1/4 tsp minced garlic
3 sprinkles ground black pepper
Instructions
Marinate the pork belly with the rice wine and the ground black pepper for about 15 mins.
Cook the Kimchi in a skillet until soft. (You could do this in the pot where you will make this jjigae. Do this only if the pot is big enough to manoeuvre around.)
Put the marinated meat into the bottom of the pot. Add all the other ingredients (kimchi, onion, mushrooms, tofu, water and the base sauce) except for green onion into the pot.
Boil the pot on medium high heat initially then reduce the heat to medium once it starts boiling. Cook further until the meat is cooked. (It takes 10 to 15 mins from the beginning of step 4.) Make sure the sauce is well blended into the rest of the ingredients. (This can be done by gently mixing the sauce around the soup with a small teaspoon and splashing the soup over other ingredients every now then). When the meat is cooked, add the green onion and turn the heat off.
Serve with rice (and other side dishes).

I should definitely invest in a proper tagine, Hellon. Our kitchen is small and already so pressed for space though.

Jane,

Tagines come in various sizes so I'm sure you could find one that suits your kitchen. I leave mine on the stove top all the time because it's very attractive and can become a conversation piece for people who visit and wonder what it is. I also use the base as a serving dish for spaghetti, potatoes and all sorts of other things...it has even served as a fruit bowl haha!!.

There's just something about the smell when the meal starts to simmers and the steam comes through the little hole that's very comforting. So....go ahead, treat yourself to one :)

This is one of my VERY favourite recipes using a tagine...

https://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/chicken-tagine-preserved-lemon-and-olives

**Sorry, I don't mean to take the thread over...I'm just a lover of cooking :)