Easy Asian Cooking, Part 1 ~ China, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam ~ with Gastronaut Skiz Fernando

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  DC/MD/VA! I’m back at the Hill Center in the nation’s capital, once again, promoting something I truly love, which is Asian food. You thought I was all about rice & curry, but I’m venturing out of my comfort zone a little, and exploring some dishes from China, Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand, which I cook on a daily basis. Ever seen my cooking show, “Pan Asian?” Well, these are all dishes that I have made before, and I love to show people how quick and easy it really is to make some very complex and flavorful food that you only thought you could get in a restaurant. So please join me as we take a trip to foreign lands and fantastic flavors without even leaving the kitchen! Here are the details:

  Register Here »

  When: Sat, 05/04/2013 - 11:00am to 1:00pm

  Cost: $75
  Category: Food and Garden
  Location: Lorinda “Annie” Hooks Demo Kitchen

  Skiz Fernando returns to Hill Center to take you on a culinary tour of the Far East without ever leaving the kitchen. In this two-hour, hands-on class, Skiz seeks to demystify Asian ingredients and techniques as he instructs you in the preparation of such simple, delicious and healthy dishes as Steamed Fish with Soy Sauce (Hong Kong), Basil Chicken (Thailand), Summer Rolls (Vietnam), and Spicy Stir Fry Squid (Korea). Afterwards, you’re invited for lunch. Skiz is the author of RICE & CURRY: Sri Lankan Home Cooking, a 2011 New York Times Notable Book of the Year. He hosts his own cooking series on YouTube called Pan Asian, in which he cooks dishes from all over Asia and the world.

  Skiz is a second generation Sri Lankan-American and graduate of Harvard University and the Columbia School of Journalism. In 2009 he was featured on Travel Channel’s No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain where he led the crew to Sri Lanka’s hot spots. Check out his blog Rice & Curry and Pan Asian online cooking series.

  Cookbooks will be available for purchase for $19.95.

  

http://youtu.be/qnIRaUoAHxk

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Rice & Curry at Bazaar Spices @ Union Market DC, April 11th

On Thursday, April 11th at 6:30pm at Bazaar Spices in Union Market, we welcome author and gastronaut Skiz Fernando as he discusses the practical and health benefits of using spices in your cooking as well as demystifying some of these “exotic” ingredients often found in Sri Lankan cuisine.  For your sampling pleasure, he will also offer a demonstration and tasting of his famous chicken curry from his recent cookbook, Rice & Curry: Sri Lankan Home Cooking (Hippocrene Books, 2011),  a New York Times notable cookbook, which put Sri Lankan food on the map. Skiz also creates his Original Sri Lankan Roasted Curry powder, a unique blend of 13 different ingredients, which forms the basis of most Sri Lankan curries. He also produces a cooking show on YouTube called “Pan Asian,” which features simple, healthy, and delicious dishes from all over Asia. Hope you will join us for this exciting and delicious event!

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Washington Buddhist Vihara Organizes Asian Food Bazaar

on Sunday, March 24 , 2013 from 9 am to 3 pm
in the Vihara premises
at 5017, 16^th Street NW, Washington DC 20011

Proceeds will go to rebuild one of the Buddhist Temples destroyed recently in Bangladesh.

For more details, please contact Ven. Maharagama Dhammasiri Nayaka Thero at 202 723 0773

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Easy Asian Cooking, Part 1 ~ China, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam ~ with Gastronaut Skiz Fernando

• 

   

• When: Sat, 05/04/2013 - 11:00am to 1:00pm

  Cost: $75
  Category: Food and Garden
  Location: Lorinda “Annie” Hooks Demo Kitchen @ The Capitol Hill Center

  Skiz Fernando returns to Hill Center to take you on a culinary tour of the Far East without ever leaving the kitchen. In this two-hour, hands-on class, Skiz seeks to demystify Asian ingredients and techniques as he instructs you in the preparation of such simple, delicious and healthy dishes as Steamed Fish with Soy Sauce (Hong Kong), Basil Chicken (Thailand), Summer Rolls (Vietnam), and Spicy Stir Fry Squid (Korea). Afterwards, you’re invited for lunch. Skiz is the author of RICE & CURRY: Sri Lankan Home Cooking, a 2011 New York Times Notable Book of the Year. He hosts his own cooking series on YouTube called Pan Asian, in which he cooks dishes from all over Asia and the world.

  Skiz is a second generation Sri Lankan-American and graduate of Harvard University and the Columbia School of Journalism. In 2009 he was featured on Travel Channel’s No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain where he led the crew to Sri Lanka’s hot spots. Check out his blog Rice & Curry and Pan Asian online cooking series.

  Cook books will be available for purchase for $19.95.

  Space is limited so please reserve your spot asap!

  Register Here »

  

  

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The 2012 World’s of Flavor Conference, Part 4: Food Porn

The CIA World’s of Flavor was literally the best place to eat on planet Earth for those three days of the conference as premiere chefs from everywhere were cooking up a storm for the daily World marketplace, which is presented in the video. So I couldn’t leave you folks without some good ole food porn to get your stomach juices churning and your tongues suitably lubricated for that impending Thanksgiving feed! Enjoy!

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The 2012 World’s of Flavor Conference, Part 3: The Chefs

Chefs from across the Arc of Flavor–defined by the conference as the swathe of territory spanning Spain in the West and the Spice Islands of Indonesia in the East–shared their cultures and cuisines during various demo sessions and seminars, which varied in size from an audience of 20 to 500. For our small session on Sri Lankan cuisine, Chef Koluu made fish ambul thiyal (sour fish curry), hoppers, and the popular Sri Lankan condiment, pol (coconut) sambol. On the mainstage, we presented Sri Lankan biriyani, which was part of the “One-Pot Meals” seminar. This video presents a sample of some of the other chefs who cooked before the entire conference.

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The 2012 World’s of Flavor Conference, Part 2: Sri Lankan Biriyani

When Chef Koluu and I discovered that we were to take part in the One Pot Meal seminar to be held on the main stage of the conference, we were a bit puzzled about what to do since there are no one pot dishes in Sri Lanka. So we decided to make biriyani–a dish that does not originate in Sri Lanka, but is none-the-less a huge favorite there.

 

Chef Koluu and myself outside CIA Greystone

A combination of rice, meat and vegetables all cooked together, biriyani can be traced back to the Mughals, a Muslim dynasty that ruled most of the Indian subcontinent from the early 16^th to the early 18^th century. Direct descendants of Genghis Khan, they are known for their very rich cuisine, embodied by a dish like biriyani, which involves expensive spices like saffron and is often garnished with gold and silver foil. While there are many versions of the dish across the Middle East and India, biriyani was introduced to Sri Lanka by the Muslim community, who make up roughly 7% of the population, and they, too, have their own spin on this popular dish.

 

Signing books at the World’s of Flavor conference

The recipe we used for our demo, however, came from my book, Rice & Curry: Sri Lankan Home Cooking (Hippocrene Books, 2011), and it is actually more like a biriyani that you would find in Pakistan–with the exception of cashews, shredded coconut, and, of course, Sri Lankan roasted curry powder, which is a spice blend like no other. In Sri Lanka, the biriyani is also usually served with several side dishes including cashew curry, pineapple curry, a mint sambol, and mixed pickle. If you ever have the chance to attend a Muslim wedding there, this will be on the menu, along with a lot of other tantalizing treats such as faluda, a sweet drink made of rose water and ice cream, and, of course, the rich, decadent wattalapam or coconut flan for dessert. That is if you have enough room after putting away a dish as dangerously delicious as biriyani!

 

The Recipe

Chicken Buriyani

 

Meat:                                                    Rice:

2 lbs. (1 kg) chicken parts                      1 lb. (500 g) basmati rice

1 tsp. black pepper                                3 tbsp. ghee

1 tsp. curry powder                               1 onion, chopped

1 tsp. cayenne powder or paprika         2  cardamoms

1/4 cup (65 ml) plain yogurt                  2 cloves

1/4 cup (65 ml) tomato puree                 2 bay leaves

2 tbsp. cashews, chopped                      1 inch (2.5 cm) stick cinnamon

2 tbsp. desiccated coconut                      pinch of saffron

1 cardamom                                            1 1/2- 2 cups (375 ml) stock

1 clove                                                    1 1/2 tsp salt

2 bay leaves

2 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. ghee

1 onion, chopped

2 Serrano chilies, chopped

 

Meat:

1.)            Wash, cut and dry meat. Season with black pepper, curry powder, and cayenne.

2.)            In a food processor, blend yogurt, tomato puree, cashews, and coconut.

3.)            Combine blended ingredients, cardamom, clove, bay leaves, and salt with chicken and marinate for 30 minutes. (meanwhile skip to rice prep).

4.)            Heat ghee in a pan. Fry onions and chilies until onions are translucent.

5.)            Add chicken pieces and stir-fry for 5-10 minutes.

6.)            Add a little water to blended mixture and pour over chicken. Simmer for 15-20 minutes.

7.)            Place chicken pieces in casserole dish.

 

Rice:

8.)            Wash and drain rice.

9.)            Heat ghee in pan. Fry onions until translucent. Add  cardamoms, cloves, bay leaves, and cinnamon.

10.)         Add rice and fry for a few minutes until rice starts to crackle. Add pinch of saffron and mix well.

11.)         Pour over stock and cook until partially done (about 15 minutes). Add salt.

12.)         Place rice on top of chicken in casserole dish. Cover with tin foil and cook in oven until moisture evaporates, about 25-30 minutes at 300 F (150 C).

 

Makes 6 servings

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The 2012 World’s of Flavor Conference, Part 1: Inside the CIA

I recently had the pleasure of visiting the picturesque Napa Valley for the CIA’s 15^th Annual World’s of Flavor Conference. No, I’m not a spy, and I’m not talking about that CIA, but rather The Culinary Institute of America, one of the country’s most well regarded cooking schools. Each year they assemble top chefs and culinary professionals from around the world at their beautiful campus in St. Helena, CA for a summit on food without parallel. This year’s theme was “Arc of Flavor: Re-imagining culinary exchange from the Mediterranean and Middle East to Asia.”

The teaching kitchens at CIA

It was no small honor to attend the conference, and to represent Sri Lankan food for the very first time here, joined by my esteemed colleague, Chef Koluu, who traveled all the way from Colombo for the event.  Koluu was extremely helpful when I went to Sri Lanka to research my cookbook, and I made sure he was featured when I returned to shoot No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain. As one of Sri Lanka’s most well-known and respected chefs, his attendance at the conference was a must.

 

Chef Koluu outside CIA Greystone, St. Helena, CA

Having just barely escaped the east coast and the wrath of Hurricane Sandy, I arrived in the Bay Area at night, so it was not until morning that I got a good look at the CIA itself. Occupying the former hilltop mansion of The Christian Brothers’ winery and overlooking acres of quaint vineyards, the school’s substantial facilities cut quite an impressive sight. The third floor teaching kitchens alone occupy a space about half the size of a football field, filled with every modern convenience you can imagine. What a joy it must be going to school in such an environment, much less cooking there for three days. This massive kitchen is where all the action was happening as chefs from across the arc of flavor prepared countless dishes for the various seminars, demo sessions, lunch, and, of course, the formidable World Marketplace, probably the best food court going on planet earth.

It was encouraging and inspiring to see so many foreign chefs interacting with CIA staff and students, and introducing so many new ingredients and techniques. Koluu made his famous pork kalupol or “black” pork curry, fish ambul thiyal, and crab curry, along with other Sri Lankan specialties like hoppers, sambol, and coconut roti. Like the other chefs, we had a whole crew of students working with us–none of whom had ever even tried Sri Lankan food before. But they picked things up very quickly as they took care of most of the prep. For everyone involved, however, the opening day proved to be an exchange of cultures, ingredients, ideas, and good vibes.

 

 

baby back ribs

 

 

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The Sri Lankan Supper Club SF — Recap

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A serious week of eating in and around the Bay Area was capped off by yet another Sri Lankan Supper Club last week as I introduced this food mecca to something which is a bit of a rarity around these parts—rice & curry. In the interests of full-disclosure, there is a Sri Lankan restaurant located about 45 minutes outside the city, but this is the first time San Francisco residents could venture down to the iconic neighborhood of Haight Ashbury and have a full, traditional island meal which included heirloom red rice direct from Sri Lanka (courtesy of Rural Returns) as well as a very special Sri Lankan cocktail called the Aria—with Arrack (courtesy of White Lion V.S.O.A.), lime juice, palm sugar and water.

 

Outside the BBF Wholesale & Mercantile Store at 1740 Haight St., San Francisco

The event was co-sponsored by Buyer’s Best Friend, a broker for small artisanal food producers (like myself), who have recently opened a store on the Haight, and are about to open a couple more locations around the city. The BBF Wholesale & Mercantile Store provides an intimate, homey environment for discovering new, small-batch products like Skiz’s Original Spice Blends, and the best part of the experience is that everything is open for tasting, sampling, touching or sniffing. So while the staff was busy arranging a single long table and laying place settings, supper club attendees could browse the various merchandise racks while enjoying a complimentary cocktail courtesy of White Lion V.S.O.A (which stands for Very Special Old Arrack), which is available now in SF and LA.

 

Skiz’s Original Sri Lankan Roasted Curry Powder — available through BBF

In addition to red rice, I also prepared chicken curry, fish ambul thiyal, dahl, mallun (sautéed greens), a beet curry, salad, and fish cutlets for the appetizer.  I also made Caramel Pudding, the Sri Lankan version of flan for dessert. The recipes for all of these dishes may be found in my cookbook, Rice & Curry: Sri Lankan Home Cooking (Hippocrene Books, 2011) As the dinner was served buffet style, plates were piled high, and the 30 in attendance did serious justice to all the food, leaving very little in the way of leftovers, which was a very good sign.

 

some satisfied customers

Despite all the planning and work that goes into these events, the dinner was a blast! I saw many old friends, whom I had not seen in a while, made some new ones, and threw back some good food and drink while introducing Sri Lankan food, one plate at a time, to an eager and enthusiastic bunch of eaters.

 

My music crew: Dub Gabriel, Professor Shehab, me, Sean Leonard

Thanks to Joyce & Adam at BBF for letting me cook in their kitchen and serve dinner in their store, Anna & Shea for helping with the cooking and logistics, and my good friends, Sean, Sassan, Gabe, Kelly & Laurie, who did a lot of work behind-the-scenes, and really helped make this dinner a big hit! Also thanks to Rural Returns and White Lion for co-sponsoring the event.

All photos by Kelly Freedman

 http://www.kellyfreedman.com/

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Crabbin’ With Gabe

Dub Gabe gets busy in the SF Bay

Having just returned from a very enjoyable trip to the West Coast—specifically the Bay Area—my belly is plumper, my face more tan, and I have a noticeable smile on my face—probably due to all the good food I ate. Though I need no excuse to visit SF and its environs, The CIA (as in Culinary Institute of America) brought me out this time to speak at their 15^th World’s of Flavor Conference, where I presented Sri Lankan food along with Colombo’s own Chef Koluu. I also hosted my first Sri Lankan Supper Club in in the city, and even found time to check out some amazing Asian spots in my new favorite dining district, Inner Sunset. I did not have a bad meal during my entire trip, but if I had to single out the most memorable one, I would have to say it was Bay crabs steamed in Old Bay.

nets and some simple bait, like chicken parts, are all you need

Now, being a Baltimore cat, I’ve had steamed crabs more times than I can count, but what made this meal indelibly imprinted in my mind was the fact that we caught these crabs ourselves—a first for me. My buddy Gabe, who lives in SF, has been taking advantage of his town’s proximity to nature and recently bought some crabbing nets. Gabe, like myself, is a serious DIY guy, who loves to eat, and having sampled his simple but divine crab bisque on my first night visiting, I had to have him take me to the source.

And that’s exactly what we did. On election day, which was a balmy 80 degrees in the Bay Area, we spent most of the afternoon on a little pier overlooking the iconic Golden Gate, tossing in crab nets, sipping brews, and waiting for the nets to fill up with delicious crustaceans. There are three kinds of crab in the San Francisco Bay—rock crabs, red crabs, and the popular Dungeness, which you are actually not allowed to catch in the Bay, but rather only in the Ocean. We actually trapped quite a few of these beauties, but had to throw them back in along with the red crabs that are less than 4 inches wide.

But crabbing is hella fun! All it takes are some nets, some bait, and a little patience as you wait about 10 minutes before hauling in your catch. It’s a bit like playing the slots—you never know what you’re going to get (or if you’ll get anything at all). And the whole concept of catching your own food, puts a whole new spin on dinner. It just tastes that much better because of all the effort you put into it, and the excitement of pulling in a load of keepers is even better than winning at slots.

Gabe  himself  cuts quite a character. He makes his own bread, his own pickles, and even his own kombucha. He also makes his own music, and that is, in fact, how I know him. Dub Gabriel, as he is known worldwide and outernational, was into dub music long before the hype, and he will be doing it long after everyone else has gone on to greener pastures. In fact, he is just getting another album ready as we speak, and you have a chance to support him in these efforts by following the link below and making a donation to his Kickstarter campaign, which has only a few days left.

http://kck.st/RS7K3p

Help Gabe reach his goal before time runs out!

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