Duck Egg Project II: Potato Omelette

Cooking for one can be quite a challenge at times. Back when I was a student, the concept of a freshly cooked home meal was simply quite alien to me unless I was eating at my girlfriend's home whose mum cooked dinner everyday. I went through a phase of scouring internet sites for advice on the best freezeable ingredients so I could cook when time permitted, portioned my balanced and diet-friendly meals in freezable containers that could be conveniently re-heated when I returned home from class. It was definately a cheaper alternative to the frozen meals you could so easily pick up from the supermarket and definately more healthy. Of course, unless you never tire of the usual (and endless) frozen selection of "tuna bake", "hungarian goulash", "penne arrabiata" or "vegetable soup", life is sweet.

I proudly declare I have come a long way as far as my choices for dinner-for-one are concerned. I hate eating alone so I usually seek a companion when it comes to mealtimes. Failing to find a willing mealtime partner, I usually indulge in rye crackers with cream cheese and smoked salmon, or salad sandwiches, or rice with tinned tuna or soup (freshly prepared, tinned or packet). And if I feel up to it, I make myself an omelette!

Today I prepared an omelette filled with thinly sliced baby potatoes sauteed in olive oil and parsley. The texture of the omelette made extra fluffy with the addition of 2 tablespoons of ricotta cheese to a single beaten duck egg. Seasoned with salt and pepper and served with a side salad of bitter greens and sprouts, who could deny this being a well-balanced meal? Mum would be so proud of me...

Duck Egg Project I: Poached Egg with Lemon Spinach Soup

There was only too brief a respite from the dreary weather on Sunday so I made most of the afternoon lying on the grass leisurely leafing through the cook's companion by Stephanie Alexander while capturing whatever warmth the sun could offer before it disappeared once again behind the heavy clouds. Earlier at the grocers I had picked up a bag of royal blue potatoes, a bunch of vibrant green spinach and half a carton of fresh duck eggs. The eggs were a splurge - costing me $4.50 for a half dozen, but I simply could not have resisted them even if I tried.

When steamed salted eggs ("harm-dan") and century eggs ("pey-dan"), both preserved versions of the duck egg, are offered at my family's dinner table with bowls of warm fragrant rice, there is little else I would really care for. Having said that, I have never eaten duck eggs prepared anyway else - hence my excitement when I came upon them. Mum suggested I make steamed sponge cakes like the ones my late paternal grandmother made with her bounty but I wanted to cook the eggs in a way that I could compare its texture and taste to a chicken's egg.

With the persuasion of the returning grey weather outside my window, I decided a soup with a gently poached egg would be just perfect for my first duck egg project. The preparation of this nutritious and most importantly, soul-warming meal is shamefully easy, I promise it would take no more than half an hour of your time so I urge you to give it a go.

If like me, you have never tried a poached duck egg, its texture (and size) will catch you a little by surprise. Softly poached, the white has a slight bite and bouncy quality (though not like a squash ball), whilst the yolk a luxuriously thick and almost creamy consistency. All in all, a delightfully rich marriage of texture and flavour with the zesty soup which makes one long for warmer weather. This dish makes for a perfect entree at your next dinner party or as a decadent dinner for one.

Lemon Spinach Soup

1 medium brown onion, roughly chopped

2 fat garlic cloves, smashed

3 medium royal blue potatoes, roughly chopped

1 litre chicken stock

1 large unwaxed lemon

1 bunch english spinach, stems removed

salt and pepper

(serves 4 generously)

sweat onions til soft then add garlic and cook til translucent

add potatoes and cook for a minute or two

pour chicken stock over vegetables and allow to simmer til potatoes are tender

grate lemon zest into the soup

saute spinach in a separate pan, squeeze dry and add to the soup

blitz soup with a blender to a desired consistency (i stopped when a speckled-green-pond effect was achieved)

season with salt, pepper and lemon juice

thicken with thick pouring cream if you like

Burgered out!

A dichotomy exists in everything we do. We are constantly torn between choice and necessity - the latter usually bringing less pleasure to the activity we participate in.

It has been quite a month, photos to show and food to write about. But until I get my laptop working and my thoughts organised, here is a beef burger filled with garlic and herbed soft cheese my housemate and I had the luxury to prepare one Sunday afternoon, when we both had the day off work.

Vanilla Cheesecake

I am partial to a light and tangy chilled lemon cheesecake which when made right is just like eating a lush lemon mousse that has a little more substance and body and in my opinion, is just the perfect way to end any meal. My mum on the other hand, loves baked cheesecake so I decided to make her a good one for this Mother's Day. Of course this doesn't mean I am an authority in baked cheesecakes, in fact, quite the contrary, as I have only ever made one successfully under close supervision of someone who knew what he was doing and even so, the results didn't really blow me away. So needless to say, I was a little nervous with how Mum's cake would turn out.


I set to work on this cake rather late last night when I thought mum would be too sleepy to wander into the kitchen with her usual persistent questions which would ruin my surprise for her. I followed the method described by sooishi with a few departures from the recipe stated. Instead of shortbread for the base, I used spicy speculaas and an additional 30g toasted flaked almonds, and I replaced creme fraiche with the same quantity of thickened cream (40% fat). The result was to put plainly - perfect! The top was flawlessly smooth and a rich golden tan which I glazed with strained strawberry jam to achieve a more glassy finish and the interior, a smooth, delicately creamy texture speckled with vanilla seeds. I completed the cake by tossing a few sliced strawberries on its top et voila! Sublime.

(Note: Mum being a traditionalist prefers the taste of digestive biscuits to speculaas but otherwise, she thought I did a great job! Thanks Mum and Happy Mother's Day! xoxo)

Spekkoek; Indonesian Layer Cake

The warm company of my family and the day-to-day leisurely pace that I have become quite accustomed to the past months will soon be replaced with a sense of stressful urgency (a.k.a. work) as my vacation is now drawing close to an end. I get wistful whenever it is time to leave and I suppose my attempt to cling on to what is dear to me, that is, my family (with one new little guy) and my home, is to dedicate my last week in Kuala Lumpur to preparing several simple sweet and savoury favourites which are heavy on sentiment and nostalgia.

When I was a wee child, Mum used to buy this cake at quite a cost from a (rather enterprising) woman who's daughter or son attended the same school as my brother and myself. I enjoyed this occasional treat tremendously and often thought how lucky the woman's kid must be (but now I am certain the kid could have been deprived of her attention while she was busy making this labour-intensive cake to sell to the parents of luckier children, like myself, at the school). Anyway, characterised by multiple layers of moist, spring-y and tight-crumbed sponge redolent with aromatic brandy and the sweet mixture of spices, this cake - simply known as layer cake, is not just rich in taste, it makes quite a visual impact too.

Although the layer cake has many guises and names including: spekkoek, kueh legit, kuih lapis Java, thousand-layer Indonesian spice cake and Sarawak layer cake, depending on the South East Asian country it happens to be come across, they all follow the same method of preparation and may vary only slightly in flavour. Word has it that spekkoek was introduced to this part of the world by the Dutch when they were colonising the East Indies and although there is no record of a similar cake that was baked back in Netherlands during this time, the cake does bear the closest resemblance to baumkuchen which the Germans have been making with great pride for over 200 years now. But it intrigues me as to why these Dutch settlers who would have been unaccustomed to the tropical weather of this region would subject themselves to the hot, uncomfortable and lengthy process in front of a flaming spit or grill to produce the many (not quite 1000 but often more than 12) eye-catching layers of this cake and did the locals really have the luxury of resources to produce such a rich cake? Perhaps, I am being a little too cerebral here but I have to admit I get as much pleasure in knowing the origins, culture and story behind the foods I adore as I do in eating them.

My advice is to make this cake on a cold, lazy afternoon or evening in the company of a good friend, family member, or both, as it really does make it a more convivial experience. Making this cake in the absence of company is great too as it allows you a moment (somewhere close to an hour) away from life's distractions to quietly reflect on... well, life. Baking can be such a therapeutic exercise, wouldn't you agree?

When the cake has cooled completely, enjoy thin slices with a cup of warm black tea and may I suggest to eat this cake by gently removing and relishing each layer at a time, the way I did as a child and the way I still do today.

Indonesian Layer Cake

14 large egg yolks

200g sugar

2tsp vanilla extract

3 tbs brandy

300g butter, diced and softened

180g flour

1/2 tsp mixed spice

14 large egg whites

100g sugar

(makes one 18x18cm cake)

preheat oven to 180C - grill setting, place rack in the top shelf of the oven.

sift flour and mixed spice and set aside.

line the base of the baking tin with baking paper. Do not grease the sides of the tin.

beat yolks, sugar, vanilla and brandy until mixture is very thick and pale.

gradually add softened butter and beat until well combined.

fold flour and spice into this mixture and set aside.

whisk egg whites in a separate clean and dry bowl gradually adding sugar until soft shiny peaks form.

fold egg whites into the buttery mixture gently knocking as little air out of the mixture as possible.

(meanwhile, place the tin in the oven to heat... caution: tin will be very hot!!)

remove pre-heated tin from the oven (very hot!!!) and spread cake batter evenly. You may tap the tin on the kitchen counter to help distribute the mixture evenly.

cook until the top of the layer is golden brown. This takes around 5-7 minutes. Keep a close eye on it!

remove tin when the surface of the layer is brown and spread another layer of cake batter on top of this.

repeat until all the cake batter is used up.

run a knife along the edges of the cake and invert the cake onto a wire rack to cool.

remove the baking paper on the base of the cake before the cake has cooled completely.