TUPPERWARE TIFFIN CONTEST ~ DON'T CALL ME CHEF

The photograph above may not be that of the typical tiffin carrier but nevertheless this is a tiffin contest by Don't Call Me Chef of Star Publications in collaboration with Tupperware who will be giving away some juicy prizes. 

To all my fellow Malaysian foodies.....read on ~ cook it ~ take a pic ~ and bring the tiffin lunch back into your lives. 


LONG before there were plastic bags and disposable containers, tiffin carriers were used to store and carry food. Tiffin carriers are stackable, multi-tiered containers that are looped to a handle with latches on the side. The separate containers allowed for the different dishes to be stored separately, and it usually even comes with a plate.

Originally from India, it was invented as the carry-all for workers to pack their lunch to take to the office.

In Mumbai, India, there is a highly efficient service that delivers tiffin lunches to office workers and schoolchildren. Dabbawallas (meaning one who carries a box) collect tiffin boxes from homes, and deliver them to offices, and then return them to the respective homes.

Tiffin carriers are also used here, and elsewhere in Asia. They are usually made of stainless steel, or enamel.

Tiffin carriers are suitable for packing Asian meals, as we can keep our rice, curry or soup, and other dishes separately. We also use them for noodles, packing the noodles, garnishings and gravy in different containers. These tiffin carriers are not only functional but environmentally friendly as well.

Inspired by the tiffin carrier, Tupperware is launching its BYO (Bring Your Own) TaPau multi-tiered containers, which are designed to hold our favourite soup-based noodles and rice dishes. As with all Tupperware Brands products, it is made made from safe, non-toxic, non-carcinogenic and microwaveable materials and do not release harmful chemicals to food or liquid contents. The BYO TaPau Set also reduces plastic waste and garbage. It is toxin-free, and is an eco-friendly alternative to plastic bags, styrofoam boxes and disposable containers.

In conjunction with the launch of this product, Don't Call Me Chef will be celebrating the tiffin carrier in our next issue. We'd like you to join us, and share your favourite tiffin lunch recipes.

Tupperware is giving away a RM1,000 hamper of its products, including the BYO TaPau containers, to the senders of the three best entries. We'll also be featuring the winning recipes in next month's Don't Call Me Chef.

All you have to do is:

Share with us your tiffin carrier stories; they could be anything from your memories of tiffin lunches, or a favourite dish you packed for school or the office.

Share your recipes with us.

Cook the dishes and snap a clear photograph (it must be high-resolution and at least 1,000KB) of the meal in a tiffin carrier/bento/container (but without the product name being visible).

E-mail us at dontcallmechef@gmail.com or snail mail your entries to us at:

Don't Call Me Chef

c/o StarTwo

Star Publications (M) Bhd

Menara Star

15 Jalan 16/11

46350 Petaling Jaya

Selangor

Closing date: Nov 21

Write up by Ivy Soon of Don' Call Me Chef.

HOME MADE FERRERO ROCHERS

First, let me assault you.

There.

There was a lot of strategizing in order to make these. I had to be alone. No compromises. 

Chocolate hazelnut wafers that sat in the fridge for about a week or more resulted in interrogations, exclamations and demands. Hazelnuts were roasted while everyone were knocked down and out in their rooms. And 2 bars of dark chocolate I had camouflaged and slipped into the chiller compartment of the refrigerator. Then perfect timing was crucial in the execution of these chocolate gems. So that I wouldn't be defending myself against outstretched fingers and hands, salivating creatures or hair raising grunts and growls throughout the process or while doing the photo shoot. It is hard to believe that this is a houseful of fully formed and developed human beings

It cost me about $60 ringgit to make 60 balls of 'Ferrero Rochers'. Never again shall I be adamant at the price of a box of Ferrero Rochers. But forever I shall be grateful to Ellie of Almost Bourdain for posting this marvelous recipe that duplicated the real thing at every bite. Simply unbelievable. Five out of five humans raised their eyebrows and were successful in vocalizing the word "same' while their mouths were stuffed. Of ferreros and fingers.

Enough said. I would make these again when I am stranded on an unmarked island with all the ingredients. These are not for sharing. I'm a greedy gibbon.

Ellie was right when she said that these could probably be made in any proportion that you think fit.

The task I did not enjoy : Chopping the hazelnuts. This required undesired diligence and some effort partly because I had doubled the recipe. And because they were round they slipped and rolled about easily on the board. I lost one...boo hooo. I might give in to the food processor the next time. Maybe you should too (just make sure it doesn't grind to powder).

The Recipe ~  from Ellie's lovely blog  Almost Bourdain

200 gm. chocolate hazelnut wafer buscuits

250 gm skinned and roasted hazelnuts

375 gm Nutella or any chocolate hazelnut spread
300 gm dark or milk chocolate (I used dark)

Crush the wafer biscuits finely in a large bowl. Add roasted and chopped hazelnuts. (The hazelnuts had been roasted for about 10 minutes at 350 and then cooled before chopping).

Add the Nutella and combine with a spatula until the mixture comes together. Refrigerate for about an hour until it firms up. remove from refrigerator and then roll into balls about 1 inch across. Line them up on a tray and refrigerate again until the balls firm up again.

Break chocolate up while the package is still completely sealed by whacking it on the counter top (smaller pieces of chocolate melt faster and more evenly) and breaking it in its package saves washing up.

Melt broken chocolate in a small to medium metal bowl set over  a pot of barely simmering water. Do Not use high heat or rapidly boiling water because the chocolate will seize and become gritty. When all chocolate has melted lift the bowl off heat and allow it to cool completely or until still slightly warm.

Remove the chocolate balls from the refrigerator and dip them one by one into the melted chocolate and using a fork lift them out gently allowing excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl before placing them on a rack placed over a plate or baking tray.

When all are done and coated chill them again in the refrigerator until firm. Serve them in mini paper cases. They'll look awful cute!

HONEY SPICED ROAST CHICKEN

I need to break out of this spell of stubbornly cooking the same few chicken dishes each time I face a chicken.

Inspite of having a book of  '365 Easy Chicken Recipes' I find myself with 3 or less ways with the bird when my pan and I take a few moments off to tap our feet and contemplate. Only to come together again, unyielding to the 365 easy chicken recipes. Thus making the same ole' same ole', choreographing the same familiar steps with the same mix of ingredients. Like having an unrelenting faith in a 3 dimensional world when there stands a mathematically proven and plausible existence of a ten dimensional one. 

I'm on a quest. To willingly expand my tried and tested repertoire of chicken recipes. Out of necessity, boredom, familiarity and contempt. And since I am not inclined to chicken breasts I may very well be concentrating on whole chicken legs...very likely... forever. And ever. Until I break out of this other chicken spell.

Spices add such a rich, aromatic and deep flavour to the chicken and combined with honey it gives a crisp crackling skin when roasted. 


Although confusing to the uninitiated the few basic spices and their names aren't all that hard to remember and recognize if you have done your homework :)

In this recipe I used coriander seeds which simply look like little round and brown seeds. And instead of fennel I used cumin which I think are the two spices that caused me some perplexity when I first drowned myself in spice world. Now I know that cumin is the smaller and darker of the two. 


Done . Only two spices are used in this chicken dish. Easy peasy.


The Recipe ~ 

2 chicken thighs, skin on, left whole, cleaned and wiped dry
4-5 T coriander seeds
2 1/2 T fennel OR cumin (I used cumin)
salt 
4, 5 or 6 T honey

2-3 T cooking oil 


Pre heat oven to 350.


Roast coriander seeds, fennel OR cumin in a dry pan until fragrant. Pound these until coarsely crushed. Add salt and then stir in the honey adjusting the amount until you get a sticky spreadable paste. You may use the pestle to do this. Or a spoon.

Spread the spice mix over the chickens thighs only on the skin side. Pat mixture into place nice and thickly.


Heat a heavy pan. Add oil and place the spiced chicken thighs, spiced side down first, into the pan. Sear the chicken pieces on both sides until lightly golden.


Transfer to a baking dish and roast in a pre-heated oven at 350 for about 40 -50 minutes or until a skewer inserted near the bone releases a clear liquid.

Place chicken on a platter and scoop up the juices from the roasting pan to dribble over the chicken.  I served it with rice. As always.

Look at that glaze. How can you not be spellbound?

A ROSELLE CORDIAL ~

There is something about a crimson coloured drink that makes it desirable and irresistible. 

I knew I had to make this when I saw it on The Hungry Caterpillar. The Roselle cordial is made from the sepals of the Roselle flower. A species of the hibiscus which is a plant native to the Old World tropics. It is of a deep plum colour, fleshy and crisp in texture, bizarre, kinky, alien-like, seemingly ready to scamper, creep, plunge, squeak, squeal and rule the world through my poor little chocolate addicted body.

H thought they looked weird, and winced when I offered him the cordial. I looked at him as adamantly as I was allowed to and, to my surprise, he relented and took a sip. Then he waved the half full glass of roselle out of my reach. I smacked his arm with my paw. As hard as I was allowed to. We grappled. We drank. We were in ecstasy and in joyful worship. Of Rosella. (Dionysus... move over)

Obviously it passed the test. So now it's bottled. Like a Genie.

It has a lovely flavour that hovers between a grape juice and a Ribena (a blackcurrant cordial). It has a slight tang to it too. It contains lots of vitamins and goodness-ess. Then I gave some to my mother.

 

Cordials are popular in this hemisphere. They are very sweet concentrated fruit flavoured syrups that need to be diluted with cold water, topped with ice cubes and then served.  In short, it contains copious amounts of sugar. It's the poor man's alternative to fruit juices. They are very refreshing.

The seeds found inside the sepals contain natural pectin and if these roselle sepals are to be cooked into a jam the seeds are boiled seperately in some water, drained, the seeds discarded and the gel like liquid that remains behind is added to the boiled sepals-sugar mixture to give it the final gel-like quality of jam. Fascinating.

PS ~ What a lovely and natural way to color cakes and icing.

The recipe ~ an approximation ~

300-350 gm roselle sepals

3 cups of granulated sugar

5-6 cups water

Rinse rosella sepals until clean. Drain. Pluck the sepals and remove all the seeds. 

Place water in a pot. Add sepals and bring to a boil and then a medium simmer for about 8- 10 minutes. The water will turn crimson immediately. Add sugar and simmer again until the sugar dissolves. Give it a stir. When sugar has dissolved and the syrup is a gorgeous crimson drain through a sieve and discard the sepals. 

Cool and store the syrup in a sterilized bottle.

To serve ~  

Pour about an inch and a half of the Rosella syrup into a glass and then fill up to 3/4 way with chilled water. Add ice cubes if you like. Taste for sweetness. Add more of the syrup if not sweet enough or more water if too sweet. Add a squeeze of lime and some slices if desired. Drink and be refreshed. 

It's a beautiful and gorgeous drink. How could one resist ?