Garlic preparation: two methods for crushing

I’ve seen people struggling with all sorts of ways to prepare crushed garlic for cooking. One of the more tedious tasks, it’s usually foisted onto the designated sous chef — in my home, Loved One.

But having discovered the perfect garlic press in Ikea, I’ve never looked back. I bought a load for my friends and they seem very happy with it.

The Ikea marvel is different from all the others because it has a large barrel into which you can cram entire fat cloves without them slipping out. It even separates the outer skin, squeezing the flesh through the holes and leaving the skin behind.

The only drawback is that the metal seems quite soft and over time (two years) you see little bits missing. I’m onto my second in about five years.

This may be obvious to some, but here’s how I prepare my garlic. I’m using the larger fresh elephant garlic here because it’s in season. It isn’t as strong as the common supermarket variety so you need more of it. The skin is softer and doesn’t have to be removed for use in the garlic press, but for the purposes of this demonstration I’m showing you the easy way to remove the skin. (Click on pix for larger images.)


What you need

Assemble garlic bulb, press, large knife and a bowl.





Deskinning garlic clove

The secret of removing the skin without it cutting up under your nails is to give it a bash with the blade of a large knife, holding it flat by the handle in one hand and thumping down on the flat of the blade with the heel of the other.


Skinned garlic clove

This splits the skin away from the clove so you can easily pick it off.





Ready to crush in the press

Place the clove into the garlic press …






… and squeeze.

Garlic grows from the barrel of a garlic press





The finished product.

Pure and simple. Pure unadulterated crushed garlic with no salt or other additives.




Pasting with salt as an abrasive
The real chef’s method but with a high salt content.

Method:
Peel your garlic cloves, cut off the tough end and slice the clove finely.
Slice crossways so you have tiny diced bits.
Sprinkle liberally with salt.
Place wide blade of knife on top at an angle of about 15 or 20 degrees (almost flat) and press down making tiny circular movements.
The salt acts as an abrasive and you end up with a fine paste depending on how long you keep it up.

On a health note, freshly crushed garlic is better for your heart than processed. Garlic’s beneficial health properties may be due more to the hydrogen sulphide content than its antioxidants as previously thought. Science Daily

Essential Asian food ingredients: the basics

What's in the Chinese kitchen? I can usually knock up a tasty east Asian meal at a moment’s notice without having to send Loved One up the shops and risk him getting lost in the pub while I fret over a smoking wok. You can too if you have the basics stored in the kitchen larder. Having a bag of prawns or seafood in the freezer, or a carton of tofu in the fridge, helps. As do peppers and onions.

The picture above shows a selection of what I was able to draw out from my cupboards just now. It gives me a wide range of flavours and textures with which to turn basic noodles or rice into something heavenly.

The staple of most Asian meals is either rice or noodles. I prefer brown rice or even brown basmati rice because it’s healthier — “punishment rice” as Loved One calls it. He’s more a potato guy but doesn’t look like one, fortunately for me.

The absolute must-have for Chinese cuisine is soy sauce: light or dark. This is fermented soy bean, grain and salt so you can put away the salt-cellar. Other bottles and jars contain: oyster sauce, black bean sauce, fish sauce, hoi sin sauce, plum sauce, BBQ sauce. In a while I’ll show you how to make a basic marinade as taught me by my Dad, but for now, purchased ready-mades will suffice.

I give a curry kick to some dishes using red or green curry paste, laksa paste, or crushed chilli seeds. As a cheat I sometimes use Schwartz Steakhouse Pepper which is gorgeous but expensive in the quantities that I use as it only comes in silly little jars.

Tins of waterchestnuts and bamboo shoots add a lovely texture to basic dishes. Tins of coconut milk, low fat or normal, are great for curries and laksa soup.

Spices should include powdered ginger, turmeric, dried chilli seeds and chillis, and five spice powder. Fresh flavourings come from garlic bulbs, ginger, kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass, coriander and fresh chillis.

Condiments include wasabi mustard, sweet chilli sauce.

Oils. I cook mostly with olive oil, peanut oil, sunflower and sesame. If you are worried about peanut allergy, use rapeseed oil instead. Peanut and rapeseed are what you use when you stir-fry and need to get the oil smoking hot. There’s evidence that high temperatures make lighter, healthier oils such as sunflower and safflower behave like carcinogenic hydrogenated fats, so use as little as possible. I always add a little sesame oil at the end for the wonderful pungent flavour.

If any of this looks so strange that it’s frightening you, don’t worry. I’m going to be walking you through some recipes so you’ll end up confident and familiar with the most exotic foodstuffs.

A basic list of ingredients you should have in your kitchen cupboards and fridge for cooking Asian dishes.

Dry goods:
Brown rice, basmati, long grain white rice, Thai jasmine rice
Egg noodles, wheat noodles, rice noodles. Fine and wide.
Dried Chinese/shitake mushrooms (have to soak for around 15 minutes before using)
Pre-soaked dhal (lentils) for South Asian cooking
Sesame seeds

Spices and flavourings:
Powdered ginger, turmeric, dried crushed chilli seeds, and five spice powder
Dry kaffir lime leaves and lemon grass
Whole coriander seed
Whole cumin seed
Whole black pepper
Whole dried Chillies
Fish stock cubes (I am such a cheat but who can boil up fish bones for months in order to get half a cup of stock?)
Organic chicken stock cubes. (Ditto)
Schwartz Steak Seasoning (cheats’ ingredient)
Salt (generally not needed if using soy sauce)
Sugar or golden syrup
Sherry or rice wine (chef’s privilege)

Sauces and pastes:
Soy sauce: light and dark (light is saltier, dark for marinades)
Tamari (wheat-free soy sauce)
Oyster sauce, black bean sauce, chilli bean sauce, fish sauce, hoi sin sauce, plum sauce, BBQ sauce
Red or green curry paste, laksa paste
Shrimp paste
Sweet chilli sauce (for dipping)
Wasabi mustard (for dipping sashimi and sushi)
Cornflour or rice flour for thickening

Oils:
Peanut (groundnut) or rapeseed oil for stir-frying (requires a hot temperature)
Sesame oil

Tins:
Tins of waterchestnuts, bamboo shoots
Coconut milk, light or normal fat

Fresh:
Garlic bulbs, fresh ginger, kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass, and fresh chillis
Limes
Coriander
Spring onions
Onions
Peppers
Kaffir lime leaves and lemon grass

Freezer/fridge:
Frozen pancakes for Peking Duck
Frozen prawns or mixed seafood
Frozen dimsum
Cartons of tofu (beancurd)
Clotted cream. Not Asian but I love it.

Plus fresh fish, meat, fruit and vegetables bought several times per week, if not daily

(Post brought over from WordPress)