Halaan (Clam) Soup Recipe

Clam Soup

Halaan or clam soup is one of my favorite soups (and it has now become one of hubby's too). It is so appetizing and refreshing. It also brings back memories of my childhood. We used to eat the clams using our hands and scoop the meat out of the shell using our mouth. Then I would reserve some of the clam shells and dry them under the sun. I and my cousins would then play with them.

These past few weeks, there had been plenty of fresh clams being sold in supermarkets. I think it’s because it’s in season these days. So, before it gets out of season, we’d rather take advantage of its abundance. We decided to cook halaan soup for lunch yesterday.

Here is the Halaan (Clam) Soup Recipe:

Ingredients:
½ kilogram halaan or fresh clams
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 thumb-sized ginger, thinly sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 tomato, sliced
3 tbsp. fish sauce or patis
2 cups water
Cooking oil

Cooking procedure:
1) Wash fresh clams and drain. Place the clams in a container and cover with water. Let it sit for several hours or overnight in the fridge. If possible, replace the water every few hours. This procedure will allow the clams to expel sand.
2) Heat oil in a pot. Sauté ginger and garlic together.
3) Add onion and cook until translucent.
4) Add tomatoes, cook for 3 minutes while stirring occasionally.
5) Add fish sauce and the fresh clams. Sauté for a couple of minutes.
6) Pour in water. Cover and let boil.
7) Turn off the heat when the clams have opened.
8) Serve immediately.

Turon Recipe

Turon or fried wrapped banana is a popular snack among Filipinos. It is usually made of saba bananas covered with brown sugar and wrapped in a very thin pastry wrapper or lumpia wrapper, which is the simple recipe. Another recipe is by adding slices of langka or jackfruit to add flavour and fragrance to Turon.


Turon or Fried Wrapped Saba Bananas

My Turon Recipe is based on the simple version. You only need the following ingredients:
4 plaintain bananas or saba
Brown sugar
8 lumpia wrapper
Cooking oil

Method:
Start by peeling the plaintain bananas or saba and cut them in half horizontally. Roll the bananas in brown sugar. Using a large flat plate or clean cutting board, spread one lumpia wrapper then place the banana. Roll the lumpia wrapper halfway, then fold both ends, and roll the rest of the wrapper. Dip you fingertip in a bowl of water and wet the flap of the lumpia wrapper to seal. Repeat the process until all bananas are wrapped. Heat oil in a pan. When the oil is hot enough, lower the heat and fry the wrapped bananas for 3-4 minutes each side or until the lumpia wrapper has turned golden brown and crisp. Remove banana wraps in oil and drain on paper towel to remove excess oil. Serve immediately.

Iftar Buffet at The Village Club

Our company sponsored an Iftar for its entire staff yesterday. Despite a glitch on the reservation, all went home satisfied, or at least I believe that everybody felt satisfied.

It was a night of fun and a chance of loosening up from the pressure at work especially for the top bosses on project sites.

Iftar is the evening meal taken when Muslims break their fast during Ramadan. Iftar buffets are popular in the UAE. During Ramadan, several hotels and restaurants are offering all-you-can-eat meals. Our company-sponsored Iftar was booked at The Village Club at One to One Hotel. Last night was full-packed and I wonder if it is always the same every single Iftar night.


Photo credit: Jenny (Twin Sister of Agua)

The Iftar buffet at The Village Club is priced at AED110 per head exclusive of tourism tax and service charge. I find the price quite reasonable compared to other buffets hosted by other well-known hotels that cost more. Our colleague though mentioned that the Iftar buffet package at Crowne Plaza Abu Dhabi is less expensive than The Village Club.

The food was abundant, mostly Arabic cuisine and a few European dishes plus plenty of deserts such as fresh fruits, cakes, nuts and dried fruits.

I ate just enough. A little taste of almost everything I dare to taste. Everything I put on my plate was delicious. I had bow pasta in cream sauce top with parmesan cheese and fresh basil leaves, salmon fillet cooked in cream and lemon, stir-fry broccoli, chicken kebab minus the skewer, circular-sliced potatoes cooked in some herbs. For deserts, I shared with hubby a platter of chocolate cake, slices of watermelon and cantaloupe, dried fruits, pecan nuts and walnuts. My most favorite desert last night was the brazo de mercedes paired with bite-size fresh fruits in season. The slight sourness of the fruits complemented the overly sweet brazo de mercedes. Hubby did not like it much though.

The chicken kebab was the only Arabic food I tried last night because it just looks like grilled chicken breast. I wasn’t brave enough to try another Arabic dish. Hubby tried the lamb biryani (I forgot the Arabic term for it but it looked like biryani to me). Biryani is a rice-based food made of basmati (long grain) rice, spices and meat, fish, eggs or vegetables. Also, he particularly liked the smoked salmon on his salad plate.

The selection of drinks were smoothies of different kinds of fruits, which I fail to remember except for the watermelon that I welcomed happily since it is my favorite, and fresh orange juice. Water on bottle is not included on the buffet but can be ordered separately, which costs at AED10 per bottle. Likewise, coffee and tea were available on separate orders, and shisha too!

Overall, the experience was great. We had fun seating on the traditional Arabic floor couch, despite the occasional gliding, and posing for lots of picture taking.

Thai-Inspired Beef Salad Recipe

Inspired by the Thai Beef Salad we had last weekend at the Bowling Village, which tasted fairly authentic, hubby requested that we prepare this light salad for dinner.

We bought 100g of thinly sliced beef from the supermarket which we marinated in soy sauce, garlic and pepper for a couple of hours to absorb the flavor then pan-fried them.


Thai-inspired Beef Salad

To create the Thai dressing for the beef salad, I used the recipe from Yummy Magazine, which was quite simple to make. I wish to have added more chopped red chili though to attain the hot kick on the dressing. I’ll definitely do that next time.

This recipe is worth a try. Aside from being healthy and easy to prepare, this beef salad is a wonderful fresh salad with a fusion of sweet, sour and hot flavors.

Here is our Thai-inspired Beef Salad Recipe.

Ingredients:
100g thinly sliced tender beef
Romaine lettuce or variety of greens, cut into 1-1/2 inch strips
2 cucumber, quartered, seeded and diced ½ inch
1 large tomato, seeded and sliced lengthwise
5 scallions, thinly sliced
2 coriander or cilantro stems with leaves, roughly chop

For the dressing:
1 lemon or lime juice
2 tablespoons patis or fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 red chili, seeded and chopped finely (add more if you desire)

Method:
1) Heat a little amount of oil in a shallow pan over high heat.
2) Fry the marinated beef slices for 3 minutes on each side or until cooked to your liking. Remove from heat and let it rest for 5 minutes before slicing thinly.
3) Combine romaine lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, onion and coriander in a large bowl.
4) Add the thinly sliced beef to the salad.
5) Drizzle with the dressing and gently toss using your hands (like Jamie Oliver does!).
6) Divide salad among plates and serve immediately.

Dan Dan Noodles of Noodle Hut

Dan Dan Mian

It is our first time to have Dan Dan Noodles and what a treat, it tasted real good! I’m not sure if others would share the same sentiment, but it has instantly become one of my favorite noodle dishes. (Be warned though that it is really spicy, even without the sliced chili that they usually top it with. )

Dan dan noodles or Sichuan Spicy Noodles is a Chinese classic dish of Szechuan or Sichuan Cuisine. According to Wikipedia, it usually consists of a spicy sauce containing preserved vegetables, chili oil, Sichuan pepper, pork, and scallions served over noodles.

What we had last night was a slight variation of the usual dan dan noodles. It is one of the two Kung Fu Noodles selections on the Noodle Hut’s menu. Btw, the Noodle Hut is located at the food court of Khalidiya Mall, which just opened a couple of months back. Yesterday was our second sampling of their dishes. The charming lady at the counter recommended that we try dan dan noodles and said that it is one of their best tasting noodles, and she did not fail us.

Going back to what I was saying, the difference of the dan dan noodles on the Noodle Hut’s menu from the usual that was described on Wikipedia was the roasted duck. I couldn’t compare at the moment which one is better, pork or duck. I only hope that I could also taste the pork version in the future.

Smitten by it, I did a little research for the recipe, which I hope to prepare in the future. Meanwhile the recipe links below would serve as a record to check out with when I finally gain the courage to prepare it.

The links also discussed a few facts and history of this Spicy Sichuan Noodles. Most of these recipes are dry version, the nearest to what we had was the one from Chinesefoodfans.com.

• Dan Dan Noodles Recipe by Foodandwine.com  (It is one of the recipes in their 100 Tastes to Try in 2007)
• Spicy Szechuan Noodles: Dan Dan Mian by Emeril Lagasse of Foodnetwork.com  (I used to watch Emeril Live! shows on TV)
• Dan Dan Mian - Sichuan Spicy Noodles by Appetiteforchina.com
• Dan Dan noodles by Chinesefoodfans.com  (This is probably the nearest recipe to what we had at the Noodle Hut)
• Dan Dan Mian Recipe by KitchenChick.com