Happy 2015! (And A Mango Chia Pudding)

I think most people’s new years begin with a bunch of resolutions. Whether it’s hitting the gym, getting a promotion at work or attaining peace, people want to mark the start of something different and better.

But, when your resolutions resemble last year’s (and the year before’s), maybe you’re aiming for something too grand. It’s always admirable to aim high, but maybe new year’s resolutions should be a little more attainable. That way, the year won’t become a minefield of disappointments, but a landscape of little victories.

This recipe nicely embodies all the little resolutions I – and probably at least a few others – would like to get around to in the new year: cooking more, eating healthier, simplifying my life, enjoying it and spending more time with friends and loved ones.

It’s a perfect dessert to round up a dinner party, but it more than pulls its weight in the nourishment department. It’s also really easy to whip up. If it’s possible to start your year the way you’d like to end it, I’d say this is a small step in the right direction.

Spiced Mango Chia Pudding

Makes 4 servings

¼ cup chia seeds

2 cups fresh coconut or unsweetened soy milk (or a half water half milk mixture)

3 tablespoons agave nectar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-2 teaspoons rempah kueh (or a blend of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves)

2 large mangoes, cut into large cubes

In a bowl, mix the coconut or soy milk with the agave nectar, vanilla extract and spices until everything is combined. Add the chia seeds in and stir. Let the mixture stand for 30 minutes, until the chia seeds have plumped up and everything is thickened.

Spoon some pudding mix into a serving glass, until the halfway point. Layer some mango cubes on top, and cover with more pudding mix, leaving some room at the top of the glass. Finish off with more mango cubes.

Chill the puddings in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight. Serve cold and, if you like, topped with some toasted almond or coconut flakes.

Pommy Jolly Christmas

This is a really sore spot for me, but my father hates Christmas. In the lead-up to festivities, he’s ambivalent to any Christmas cheer. I’m not sure if I’ve ever gotten over the trauma of him throwing my precious small plastic Christmas tree away one year. Every year, all through Christmas dinner, he sits in a corner eating quietly and rolling his eyes at Christmas clichés. Then, a magical moment arrives. When it’s time to douse the Christmas pudding in brandy and flambé it, finally, I see a spark in his eyes and he gets excited.

Even if you don’t enjoy the shopping, eating frenzy that Christmas is sometimes, I think almost everyone has some festive moment to look forward to. I’m not embarrassed to say that I love Christmas. Not in a mystical or spiritual way, but for its full kitschy, silly glory.

This punch says so much about Christmas to me. First of all, it comes in a great big bowl, so everyone can help themselves to seconds. It’s ruby red, orangy, floral, leafy, warming, fizzy and definitely alcoholic. And just to go full Martha Stewart/elf, it’s topped with a ice ‘wreath’ filled with rosemary sprigs and clementine slices. Because if you can’t embrace a theme at Christmas, then when can you?

Pomegranate Elderflower Ginger Punch

¾ cup whisky (or go the whole hog and do 1 cup!)

1 cup Cointreau or other orange liqueur

3 cups pomegranate juice

⅓ cup elderflower cordial

1 cup ginger beer (or even champagne – but up the elderflower cordial for sweetness)

Juice of 1 lemon

Bunch of rosemary sprigs

Clementine or orange slices

To make the ice ring, lay most of the rosemary sprigs and clementine or orange slices around in a ring-shaped cake tin. Cover with water and freeze until solid.

In a big bowl, stir all the other ingredients and the remaining few rosemary sprigs together. Add the ice ring and serve!

This recipe first appeared on Page Five, as part of Kitchenhoarder's ongoing collaboration with luxury vintage haven The Fifth Collection.

Macritchie Mule

There are two types of people in this world: Birthday people and not-Birthday people. I fall firmly in the first camp. Not because I think it’s important to celebrate Your Self or anything in that narcissistic vein. It’s because – and I’ve said this enough times – any excuse for a party is a worthy one.

I’m about to tell you about a take on a classic cocktail, but don’t freak out! I know that revamped recipes often involve complicated steps, obscure ingredients and the like, but I promise you this is achievable, impressive and delicious.

In honour of The Fifth Collection's Curator’s birthday, I’ve taken her favourite drink, the classic Moscow Mule, and given it a fresh, local spin. It’s the perfect refreshing drink for anyone in Singapore (or any other sweaty city) – thus, the Macritchie Mule, with an almost healthy bent. So sip away and celebrate!

Macritchie Mule

Makes one birthday girl or boy very happy

One (or two) 25-ml shot of vodka – I like Zubrowka here for its grassy flavour

One thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled

One big green chilli

Juice of one lime

Juice of one grapefruit, or 100ml grapefruit juice

2 teaspoons agave nectar

Sparkling water (or champagne!) to top up

With a fine grater, grate the ginger into a mixing glass. I like everything gingery, but if you don’t, just use less ginger. Slice the chilli into big diagonal slices and get rid of the seeds.

Add the vodka, lime juice, grapefruit juice and agave nectar, and stir to combine. Throw in two or three green chilli slices, and lightly muddle to get some spice going. Taste it and adjust to your liking.

Grab a pretty glass, fill with ice, and pour the cocktail over. Top up with soda water or champagne and garnish with a lime wedge and chilli slice.

This recipe first appeared on Page Five, as part of Kitchenhoarder's ongoing collaboration with luxury vintage haven The Fifth Collection.

Tomato, Anchovy and Pepper Pasta with Parsley

Italy. That sacred land of food. Something about the idea of eating in Italy really does captivate, doesn’t it? I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t like Italian food, and I hope I never do. It’s the Tom Hanks of the food world: universally loved.

It’s no surprise, really. Italian food is so delicious, so fulfilling, yet not intimidating to try making yourself. I’ve spent weeks at a time surviving on pasta, and it never felt like a chore. On top of being perfect as day-to-day sustenance, it’s also built to impress. Roast a beautiful pork belly, porchetta style, or make your own gnocchi in sage brown butter, and anyone will be putty in your hands.

I may never have been to Italy, but I think there are few things in the world that can be as simultaneously comforting and sexy as a bowl of Spaghetti Carbonara, or as warm and welcoming as a bubbling pot of Lamb Ragu.

This simple recipe is perfect for hot summer days – and nights (all the time in Singapore). It’s almost part-salad, part-pasta. I like using plenty of tomatoes, and only cooking them slightly, so they still retain their freshness. With a base of anchovies and peppers, and finished with lots of parsley, chopped almonds and parmesan cheese, this makes an amazing companion to a glass of chilled white wine.

Tomato, Anchovy and Pepper Pasta with Parsley

Serves 2

200g cherry tomatoes, halved

1 red bell pepper, sliced into short strips

1-2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

4-5 anchovies in olive oil

A generous bunch of parsley, leaves torn off and roughly chopped

A handful of almonds, roughly chopped

Parmesan cheese and Extra Virgin Olive Oil, to finish

Enough spaghetti (I used wholemeal here) for two - around 120g

Boil the spaghetti, or whatever pasta you prefer, in plenty of salted boiling water.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil up in a sauté pan over a medium. Add the anchovies and garlic, and stir to dissolve the anchovies.

Add the bell pepper slices to the pan and stir to cook. You want the bell pepper to soften slightly, but still retain a bite. This usually takes about 5 minutes.

Toss in the halved cherry tomatoes and cook until they just start to wilt and are warmed through. Drain your pasta and mix through with the sauce. Throw in the parsley and give it a quick stir.

Serve your pasta with chopped almonds and grated parmesan cheese, as well as a lovely drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Enjoy!

This recipe first appeared on Page Five, as part of Kitchenhoarder's ongoing collaboration with luxury vintage haven The Fifth Collection.

Red and White, You're All Right

How does one even begin to talk about Singaporean food? I’ve tried so many times to share the diverse cuisine of my home with friends from other places, and I just don’t feel like I’m getting the true scale of Singapore’s food culture across. You know the stock line - it’s a mix of Chinese, Malay and Indian. Yes, it is, but it’s also so much more than that. It doesn’t feel like I’m doing justice by breaking it down into a few historical influences.

What makes our food culture so special boils down to how much we Singaporeans love food. I’ve had so many conversations with friends and family, debating the merits of a certain dish at a certain restaurant, or comparing notes on where to find the best BCM (that’s Bak Chor Mee, if you didn’t know) or BKT (Bak Kut Teh). And you know when you can refer to food in acronyms, you mean business.

It’s a little intimidating but I am hoping to try my hand at recreating some Singaporean classics at home. But in the spirit of National Day, we’re going a little kitschy with this recipe. Red and white, you’re all right.

It doesn’t look like much, but the pillowy bee hoon (rice vermicelli) really sucks up the flavourful dressing, and blends perfectly with the tomatoes and prawns. The addition of herby freshness really makes the dish, so if you don’t like coriander, just replace with parsley or dill. Make sure this salad is really cold when you serve it and kick back and refresh in some hot Singaporean weather.

Tomato and Bee Hoon Salad

Serves 4

4 individual bundles of dried bee hoon

400g cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

500g shelled prawns

3 cloves garlic, grated

1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, grated

Juice of 5 limes

4 tablespoons fish sauce

2 tablespoons honey

2 chilli padi, finely sliced

White pepper, salt

Large bunch of coriander, chopped

Start the dressing off by mixing the grated garlic and ginger with the lime juice, fish sauce and honey. Season with salt and white pepper to taste. It may seem crazy to add salt to fish sauce, but you do need the dressing to be saltier than you think to flavour the bee hoon. Mix in the chilli padi - add as much as your tongue can take!

Toss the halved cherry tomatoes in with the dressing and stir. Let this marinate while you get on with the other tasks so the tomato juices flow out and flavour the dressing.

Cook the prawns. I just poach them in simmering water for about 5 minutes and then dunk them in cold water. To cook your bee hoon, just cover it in boiling water and let it sit for about 5 minutes. When it has softened enough, drain and rinse in cold water and set aside.

Mix everything up together in a big bowl. Taste to check, and let it sit in the fridge for about 30 minutes. This allows the bee hoon to really soak up that flavour and get cold and refreshing. Serve with a sprinkling of extra coriander on top.

This recipe first appeared on Page Five, as part of Kitchenhoarder's ongoing collaboration with luxury vintage haven The Fifth Collection.

The Midnight Dove

Do you have A Drink? You know, like in movies about young and successful types, characters have ‘their drink’, and they order it again and again. Like Sex and the City and their Cosmos. That really stuck with me.

Okay, it didn’t make me want to drink Cosmopolitans, but it made the idea of walking in to a bar – any bar – and ordering the same drink, kind of appealing? As if you could be so sure of yourself that you don’t even need to look at the menu. You just KNOW what you want.

I tried, maybe for two weeks, to make a Dirty Martini My Drink. It didn’t work. There’s a whole world of cocktails out there, and I wanted to limit myself to one? I must have been crazy. But I do like the idea of having a main drink (My Main Thang, I like to think) that you make at home. And I plan to make this gorgeous drink My Drink this summer.

Inspired by the Mexican classic the Paloma (Spanish for ‘Dove’), this drink is still refreshing, but with a spicy warmth and strength that takes it well into nighttime territory. But, you know what? It’s got grapefruit and maple syrup in it, so if it’s a special day, this has got ‘breakfast’ written all over it.

Midnight Dove

Makes 2 cocktails

2 x 25ml shots of Añejo Tequila

Juice of 2 Grapefruits

1 x 25ml shot of Maple Syrup

A dash of Angostura Bitters

Salt, to rim the glasses

After juicing the grapefruits, you’re left with squeezed halves of the fruit. Cut a smallish segment from one, and use this to wet the rims of your glasses.

Sprinkle some salt (I used pink Himalayan salt) on a plate or shallow bowl and dip the edges of your glass in to coat the rims. Gently shake off any excess and let it dry slightly.

Shake or stir the grapefruit juice, maple syrup and tequila over ice for about 30 seconds. Pour into your prepared glasses, add a dash of bitters, and serve.

This recipe first appeared on Page Five, as part of Kitchenhoarder's ongoing collaboration with luxury vintage haven The Fifth Collection.

Tomato Avocado Miso Pasta

Tomato. Avocado. Miso. Pasta. That's right, I put all those things in one bowl. YES I DID. And it was goooooood. And you know what, (kinda) good FOR you too. If there was such a thing as a pasta cleanse (there isn't, I checked), pretty sure this would be on the programme, just like this other avocado pasta.

It's the perfect dish for wake-up-late days when you need something comforting, but you also can't bear the thought of dealing with yourself after another plate of french toast, bacon, maple syrup, corn fritters, home fries... Wait, what were we talking about again? Oh yes, healthy and and comforting.

It's a pretty flexible recipe, as are most pasta recipes, really. Chop the avocado and tomato into smaller pieces and squish them together if you want something more saucy. In this form, they are almost salad-like, sitting prettily atop their bed of spaghetti. The sauce is a savoury and sweet concoction of miso, onions, mirin and a bunch of other lovelies.

Take a bowl of this goodness outside, sit in the sun, recover from any excesses of nights before, and enjoy.

Tomato Avocado and Miso Pasta
Serves two (just halve everything for one)

Enough spaghetti for two (around 200-240g dried spaghetti)
1 avocado
12-15 cherry tomatoes
1 shallot or small onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon butter (or oil, if you're anti-butter, but don't be!)
2 tablespoons miso paste mixed with 2 tablespoons water (I used the lighter awase miso for this)
1 tablespoon mirin

Dice the cherry tomatoes and avocado into your desired size and shape - the tomatoes are quartered in this incarnation.

Cook the spaghetti according to the packet instructions in salted water. We're going to finish the pasta in the sauce, so it shouldn't be too soft. Remember to save a cupful of the pasta cooking water before draining it!

In the meantime, heat up the butter (or oil) in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Saute the onion or shallot until translucent, and add in the garlic. Fry for a few seconds more before adding the miso paste and mirin.

Stir everything together for 2 minutes. Make sure the pan doesn't get too dry - add a touch more water if it needs it. Take it off the heat until the pasta is ready.

Drain the pasta when it's al dente. Add it to the pan with the miso sauce and stir together over a medium heat for a minute more, adding pasta water a tablespoon at a time, to create a silky sauce - but careful not to overdo it so it doesn't get watery!

Transfer the pasta to a bowl, top with the prepared avocado and tomato and finish with sesame seeds and/or seaweed strips.