Showing posts with label Recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Recipes. Show all posts

Friday, December 21, 2018

How to make traditional Irish potato cakes or "boxty"

A recipe for traditional Irish potato cakes – better known as boxty. 
Traditional Irish potato cakes, or boxty, are mostly associated with the north midlands of Ireland in Connacht and Ulster. The people of Mayo, Sligo, Donegal, Fermanagh, Longford, Leitrim and Cavan are particularly big fans of this delicious and simple style of potatoes.

It is thought that boxty dates back to the days of the Irish Famine, presumably to make the potatoes stretch further. There are a couple of different recipes, but all contain finely grated, raw potatoes served fried.

There are some variations on the classic recipe, such as boiling the patty like a dumpling or baking it like a loaf. With the demands of the modern palate being more diverse, some people add spices or vegetables into the mix. However, the plain old griddled style is the original and is wonderfully tasty.

Over the last couple of years, as the Irish have become more interested in their own cuisine, the popularity of boxty has risen. It's now quite normal to see boxty on a menu in a restaurant in Ireland, whereas a decade ago it would have still been considered a 'peasant dish.' However, boxty has always been popular as part of Irish home cooking.

As one traditional (if woefully out-dated) rhyme explains: 

Boxty on the griddle, 
Boxty in the pan, 
If you can't make boxty, 
You'll never get your man.

RECIPE

Ingredients: 
1 cup raw, grated potatoes 
1 cup leftover mashed potatoes 
1 cup all-purpose flour 
2 tsp baking powder 
2 tsp salt 
2 eggs, lightly beaten 
1/4 cup (about) milk to mix 
Butter or oil for frying 
Sugar (optional)

Method:

Place the grated raw potatoes in a clean cloth and twist to remove excess moisture.

Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder.

Combine flour mixture with the raw potatoes, the left over mashed potatoes, and the eggs.

Add enough mix to make a batter.

Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat and add butter or oil.

Drop potato batter by the tablespoon into the hot pan.

Brown on both sides (about 4 minutes per side).

Butter each boxty and serve hot with or without sugar.

Yield: about 4 servings

Friday, November 16, 2018

Taiwanese Pepper Pork Pie Recipe

Have you heard of Taiwanese Hu Jiao Bing? It literally translates to Pepper Biscuit! But don’t let the name fool you, these pepper pork pies are so much more than that.

Hu Jiao Bing are pastries filled with a mixture of pork, scallions and fragrant with aromatics and white pepper. The crust should be crispy but not doughy whereas the filling should have the right ratio of lean meat, fat and chopped scallions. Traditionally from Taiwan, these are an immensely popular street food at night markets which are abundant throughout the country. At one specific market called Raohe Night Market, tourists and locals alike are willing to wait in line for over an hour just to get a taste of the famous pepper pork pies there which are one of the major attractions of the market.

This recipe can be altered in many ways to suit your liking. Typically, the chopped scallions are stuffed into the bun separately with the meat filling instead of incorporating it in altogether. This is done so that the flavors of the fragrant, pungent scallions are more pronounced. However, I’ve gone against the norm by mixing it in together with the pork filling, simply because it’s so much easier to wrap. For most home cooks, we rarely tackle recipes like these are they can be very time-consuming. Many people end up putting in less filling as it makes the wrapping process so much easier. Unfortunately, what you get in return is a sad pastry with little meat and all crust...more

Perfect fare for something a little different for the upcoming holidays!