All posts tagged: Asian fusion

Palamut(Bonito) Freekeh Sarma with Tahini Soy Sauce

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Let’s have a break from the Sicilian story and talk about what I’ve been cooking. I’ve been cooking more Asian foods lately and experimenting a combination of Korean and Turkish flavours. I have affinity  to everything wrapped or rolled, which is ‘sarma’ in Turkish. It sounds even similar to the Korean word for wrapping, ‘ssam’! You’ll see this stuffed leaves or stuffed vegetables everywhere in Turkey, and they are usually made with rice and meat. Of all, the most common type is stuffed vine leaves and I have a very funny story to tell. We had a big row over the vines in our garden over the summer. Some friends of an upstairs granny came around to pick vine leaves from time to time but I ignored them, finding it rather cute that people even in the city go around foraging. Also, the vines needed pruning anyway. But then one day I came home to find the ladies in the garden and the vines stripped naked of leaves so I told them not to pick the leaves from inside. One day while our helper lady was …

Coconut Crumbed Mung Bean Sprout Fritters

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Patience…patience… Life in Turkey is very slow, so slow that waiting is big part of my life. Take a deep breath and let it be, let it go… Boşver… the word Mr.O often throws at me who frets over small things. I’ve been waiting for my knife to be delivered for over 5 months, though I was told 3 months. What kind of knife, you would wonder, right? I ordered a special knife when we had a family trip to Babakale. I’m still waiting, bugging Mr.O’s dad to find out if it’s on its way or it’s still being made. We were told that the knife will be passed on to the family friend who is living there and then she will bringing it to a relative in Çanakkale, and then finally to Istanbul, not by post but in person, who will come to Istanbul, and god knows when it will happen. At the moment, two of my knives, Opinel and Sürmene, and guess who won in the tomato slicing competition, which is the best sharpness …

Korean Soirée @Eat with Me Istanbul

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Last Friday I was invited as a chef to cook in a dream kitchen for Korean Soirée. What an honour, a professional chef promoting a home-cook to a ‘Chef’! The idea of a Korean night came as Mr.O and I recently returned from our Korean trip and had some Korean goodies. People would normally keep them to themselves as they’re often very difficult to get hold of if you live abroad, but I wanted to share as I always do. That’s why I did my first Soiree des Gourmandes after returning from my Jura wine tour where I met my life saving foodie friend, Dolores. A Korean dinner had already happened two nights ago but people who saw the menu post on my Facebook page got so excited that they demanded that it be held soon or they will die. I didn’t know there was so much interest in Korean food. Yes, I’m not so Korean inside as outside and I hardly cook Korean at home; I had enough of it growing up! Though I …

peking duck

Crispy Skin Slow Roast Duck / Saffron Carrot Rice / Büyülübağ Wine

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“When a girl tries to treat herself, someone else takes advantage” The reason why this post starts with the phrase is because of what I’ve been wondering about why I cook. Yes, I love eating for sure, but would I cook the way I’ve been doing if it wasn’t for another person who enjoys it more than the person who actually cooks? You wouldn’t definitely go through roasting a whole duck for 4 hours just for yourself, would you? Well, I would have in my early years when I started getting into cooking just for the sake of experiment and excitement. And when you see the person enjoying the food more than you do, that’s the reward for a hard work. Like the slow roasted duck. Mr.O loved it so much that he brought home another whole duck. Sometimes I feel like being an Ottoman chef working for the sultan in Topkapi Palace. That’s why my mum always warned me growing up not to tell a guy I’m a good cook. And the older I …

Seared Tuna Steak with Radish Kiwi Wasabi Pickle

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Here I go again. It’s been a crazy few weeks with a lot of work. I wonder, yet again, how people manage to keep up with writing blog posts while working a regular job to bring home the bacon. Especially, as the warm spring sun calls people outside, I spend less and less time in the kitchen, cooking. Should I upgrade my gadgets to be able to work on the go? Should I keep my posts short and simple? As I have a grumpy old lady inside the young-ish body of mine, I tend to ramble away once I start on a subject. Yet, the biggest problem seems to be the photos, which take not only the time to process but also the space on my hard drive. I’ll need to work out the issue soon before I drown in the sea of photos. On this sort-of new blog, I’d be exploring more Turkish cuisine as some smart people might have already guessed. I’ve tormented readers with French cheese and wine for a long time …

Prawn Avocado Orange Cocktail and Thai Curry Grilled Salmon with Jura and Alsace Wines

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After reading about pairing wine with desserts on Vino in Love, I thought I’d post my first review on white wine. Years ago when I started drinking wine, I enjoyed sipping a glass of Chardonnay at parties as an aperitif with cheese and nibbles under the sun before the mains or super crisp and fruity Sauvignon Blanc with fish or spicy Asian dishes. Luckily, all that happened in New Zealand, the country of white wine. It didn’t realise how the style of white wine could be so different and it was interesting how I picked out New Zealand wine just from the smell in the blind tasting I did on the wine course. Though I’ve tasted some white along the way, I’ve put whites behind me and now I’m all for red wines. I simply find red wine grapes more interesting and capricious like me. I’ve received three bottles of whites from different guests, one from Alsace, one from Jura, and the other from Württemberg.