My take on spaghetti alla carbonara with bacon and specs of blue cheese

Adapted from Chef Antonio Carluccio's recipe, my version of carbonara that is not quite traditional yet not quite the cream-based American-Italian version either. It's a really satisfyingly creamy dish that comprises of minimal ingredients and minimal wash-up afterwards, so it really is the perfect mid-week meal! And carbonara is always a people pleaser!

Traditionally, instead of bacon, Guanciale (pork cheek cured similar to pancetta) would be used but I generally use bacon for its easy accessibility. Parmesan or pecorino is also the original go-to but, like all of my recipes, where I can, I will offer substitutes and since sharp cheddar and tasty cheese are most commonly found in Australian households this will be perfect.
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Spaghetti alla Carbonara (no cream)

(serves 2)

Ingredients:

          250g spaghetti
          30g bacon (I use middle rasher)
          1 tbsp. olive oil (or any cooking oil)
          2 eggs, lightly beaten
          50g any sharp hard cheese, grated (I used sharp cheddar, tasty and blue cheese)
          Black pepper
          Salt (to season, I used approx. 1/2 tsp.)

Method:

1.  Cook the pasta in a medium pot to al dente
2. When the pasta's almost done, fry the bacon and oil in a large heavy-based pan
3. In a medium bowl, lightly beat together eggs, cheese, pepper and salt
4. Transfer pasta directly from the pot to the pan and toss in bacon
5. Remove the pan from heat
6. Pour egg mixture into the pan and mix well (the residual heat will be enough to cook the egg through)
7. Serve immediately with extra grated cheese and pepper

****Tips: 

- Any hard cheese be substituted for the traditional parmesan and pecorino
- The better quality bacon, the better flavour it will impart on your carbonara (particularly since it's a dish that has so few ingredients). Lower grade bacon will only just add saltiness to your dish and not a full flavour

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I'd love to see your versions of my recipes if you try them! Feel free to send them through to my email address; on Instagram with the tag (@unadornedeats) and/or hash-tag (#unadornedeats); or attach them to a comment below!

Love and luck in your cooking!

- Unadorned Eats

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References:

- http://www.antonio-carluccio.com/Spaghetti_alla_Carbonara 

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Dark chocolate oozing out of a warm Pain au Chocolate fresh out of the oven!

Sometimes I just feel like a nice, warm, flaky croissant to bite into and what's even better than a warm croissant is one filled with oozing dark chocolate! It's the perfect after dinner treat with a fancy name that's so easy you'll wonder why you haven't made it before - and the leftovers are perfect to enjoy with your coffee the next morning!

This recipe isn't mine, but from FrenchGuyCooking on YouTube (click here to see his recipe video!). He really makes French cooking and just cooking in general seem like such a fun and easy thing to do, rather than a chore, which is exactly how I see cooking should be viewed! Cooking should be something that you look forward to and enjoy...with the added perk of having a meal or a snack at the end of it!
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Pain au Chocolat (Chocolate Croissants)

Ingredients:

          4 sheets puff pastry
          220g block of good quality dark chocolate
          Butter, melted
          3-4 tbsp. icing sugar

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius
2. Cut your chocolate into sticks, breadth-wise, halving the indented squares

   

   Chocolate sticks cut for Pain au Chocolat (I only ended up using 3 squares per croissant)

3. Cut your puff pastry sheet into thirds
4. Brush to cover surface with melted butter
5. Dust with icing sugar
6. Stack 2 strips on top of one another (leave the other strip for the next pastry sheet)
7. Cut the stack in half
8. Place the chocolate stick approx. 1 cm from the right hand side of the stack and roll (like you would sushi) once
9. Place a second chocolate stick along the seam where you rolled your first chocolate stick and roll again to secure the chocolate
10. Cut and discard excess pastry
11. Arrange all croissants on a lined baking tray
12. Brush with egg wash (1 egg + 1 tbsp. water per egg)
13. Bake until golden brown, rotating the tray half way through cooking if you oven doesn't distribute even heat

****Tips: 

This is the perfect recipe for you to use up leftover store bought pastry, as I had when I bought pastry to make my quiche Lorraine with spinach! So delicious and it also makes for a French themed mid-week dinner when paired with quiche.

Complementing Recipes:

- Quiche Lorraine (+ Spinach)

Click here for the recipe! Great egg-based savoury tart that is sure to be a crowd pleaser with its onion, bacon, cheese and spinach filling!
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Like I said earlier, I love to enjoy these pastries with my coffee the next morning for breakfast! All you need to do is warm it up in a mini toaster oven and the chocolate will go back to its oozy consistency and the pastry will give a beautifully flaky crunch to every bite!

I'd love to see your versions of my recipes if you try them! Feel free to send them through to my email address; on Instagram with the tag (@unadornedeats) and/or hash-tag (#unadornedeats); or attach them to a comment below!

Love and luck in your cooking!

- Unadorned Eats

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References:

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tNRLcJAtSw 

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A favourite for Australians, this French savoury, egg-based tart is flavoured with onions, bacon and cheese. An easy way to get kids to eat veggies is to put it in something that they already like, you really taste the spinach in the quiche but it adds some extra veg to the recipe! Traditionally made with shortcrust pastry, however, I like the flakiness that puff pastry adds. As a meal, I normally serve this dish with a simple side salad made with a mixed salad bag, avocado and dressed with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, fleur de sel (sea salt) and finished off with a balsamic glaze.

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Quiche Lorraine (+ Spinach)

Ingredients:

          1 sheet puff pastry (you may need to 'stitch' on extra depending on the size of your tart
          tin)
          1 tbsp. cooking oil
          1 large onion
          200g bacon, diced (I used short cut)
          125g chopped frozen spinach, drained
          3/4 cup grated tasty cheese (substitute for your preferred hard cheese)
          3 eggs
          1/2 cup milk
          300ml thickened cream
          Salt (to season, I used approx. 2 pinches)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius
2. In a frypan, cook the onion until translucent and slightly brown
3. Add in the bacon and cook until fragrant. Set aside to cool
4. Microwave the spinach for 1 minute to thaw and drain thoroughly
5. Whisk egg, milk and cream and season with salt (remembering that the bacon and cheese will add some saltiness to the quiche)
6. Line your tart tin with the pastry making sure to push it in the corners gently to create a nice edge to your crust and cut off the excess (keeping in mind that the pastry may shrink a little in the oven so perhaps leave 0.5-1cm above the tart tin)
7. Place the onion, bacon and spinach into the base of the tart, ensuring that there is an even distribution the ingredients
8. Top with the grated cheese
9. Pour in the egg mixture
10. Bake until the top is golden brown
11. Remove from oven and cool until ready to serve
12. Serve with a side salad

    

    Quiche served with an avocado mixed salad with balsamic dressing

****Tips: 

- Leftover grated cheese can be stored in the freezer for use in your next recipe!
- I found that quiche doesn't cook in the oven for long enough for the base to get soggy so blind baking is not necessary.
- If you have remaining egg mixture, just use it for scrambled eggs the next day! It makes a lovely creamy breakfast dish.
- You can also choose to make the quiches in muffin pans for a picnic or to take as a packed lunch!
- Leftover puff pastry can be used to make an after dinner treat like Pain au Chocolat - the recipe is linked below

Complementing Recipes:

- Pain au Chocolat (Chocolate Croissants)

Click here for the recipe! This beautifully flaky pastry filled with oozy dark chocolate is the perfect after dinner treat or early morning accompaniment for your coffee, recipe by FrenchGuyCooking on  YouTube.

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My family loves to eat quiche lorraine and used to buy frozen mini quiches, but I noticed that when they do so the quiches are rarely eaten with any veg. So I decided to add some extra spinach into the recipe which turned out to be a great idea, my sister already loves quiche so even seeing the spinach didn't stop her from trying my quiche and to my surprise she loved it! She said that it tasted so much better than the frozen quiches and that the bacon flavour masked the taste of the spinach!

I'd love to see your versions of my recipes if you try them! Feel free to send them through to my email address; on Instagram with the tag (@unadornedeats) and/or hash-tag (#unadornedeats); or attach them to a comment below!

Love and luck in your cooking!

- Unadorned Eats

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Perfect for a cold winter's day or rainy day or a lazy day (or even when you just feel like it), chicken sweet corn soup is a favourite restaurant-style soup of mine. With my family being from the South of Vietnam, we often have a sweeter palate when it comes to seasoning our food (opposite to the North who are overall more reserved with their seasoning), so I really enjoy this soup as it satisfies the tastes that I've grown up on being that sweeter-savoury dish. It's pretty much what I live on when I get too lazy to cook other things because it's that simple!
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Lazy Chicken Sweet Corn Soup

Ingredients:

          3-4 litres 'Lazy Chicken Stock' (of course any type of stock is fine too)
          1 chicken breast
          2 cans cream of corn
          1 can sweet corn kernels
          3 eggs, lightly beaten
          Sugar & salt (to season)
          8 level tsp. corn flour (to thicken)
          Spring onion and coriander, finely sliced (to serve)
          White pepper (to serve)

Method:

1. Dice breast into small cubes
2. In a medium-sized pot, boil some water to cook the chicken. Scoop out and set aside
3. Bring the stock to a simmer
4. Add corn cans and chicken pieces
5. Test if soup is hot enough to hold ribbons by dropping some egg into the broth, if it sets immediately then it's ready. Whilst stirring, pour in egg in thin ribbons
6. Taste and season soup again (the stock should already be seasoned) to make sure the flavours balance out
7. Mix cornflour with equal quantities cold water (this prevents clumps of flour forming in soup)
8. Bring the soup to the boil and stir in cornflour (add the cornflour slowly to adjust the thickness as required, if you like your soup a little thinner, hold back on the quantity of cornflour)
9. Serve hot topped with spring onion, coriander and white pepper

****Tips: 

You can choose to use just egg whites for the egg ribbons (like in restaurants), but I like to use the whole egg to avoid having leftovers accumulating in my fridge. (To use leftover eggs, you can make my steamed creme caramel recipe - click here)

Complementing Recipes:

- Lazy Chicken Stock

Click here for the recipe. The perfect lazy base stock for any soup recipe you're going to make, that takes only 20 minutes!

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I like to use Malaysian white pepper as an addition to any soup-based dishes when I serve them as it adds an extra dimension of heat to the dish (I think it's called Sarawak, not too sure but I'll have a check).

I'd love to see your versions of my recipes if you try them! Feel free to send them through to my email address; on Instagram with the tag (@unadornedeats) and/or hash-tag (#unadornedeats); or attach them to a comment below!

Love and luck in your cooking!

- Unadorned Eats

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A bowl of my lazy stock (apologies for the yellow cast, took this photo at night and not sure how to fix it)

Super quick and simple recipe for chicken stock when you're in a rush or just hungry and need a soup base for a recipe!
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Lazy Chicken Stock

Ingredients:

          Bones from 1kg chicken thighs (after flesh removed, you can sub for 2 chicken frames)
          3-4 litres water
          Sugar & salt (to season)
          1 onion, peeled (optional)

Method:

1. Simmer bones and remove froth and impurities with a ladle. Simmer for 20-30 minutes (the longer the better when it comes to making stock - the longer the soup is simmering, the more flavour extracted from the bones)

Stock froth: Gross, I know, but that's why we scoop it out!

     2.  Season to taste

     3.  Remove bones and use in any recipe you please (try my lazy chicken sweet corn soup!)

****Tips: 

You can add a whole peeled onion to the stock to create a naturally sweeter flavoured stock if you like - this is just my base (lazy) recipe for stock - so feel free to add extra flavours like bay leaves and carrots.

Complementary Recipes:

- Lazy Chicken Sweet Corn Soup:

Click here for the recipe. Deliciously quick and easy hearty soup to satisfy your 'restaurant soup' cravings or to enjoy on a cold, rainy day!
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This is the stock recipe I use when I'm craving chicken sweet corn soup and can't wait to simmer a 4 hour stock (which would be delicious, by the way, I'm just usually hungry -hehe-). Using this recipe combined with my chicken sweet corn soup recipe it takes me under an hour to create a hearty soup with enough servings for the rest of my family plus leftovers for me to enjoy the day after!

I'd love to see your versions of my recipes if you try them! Feel free to send them through to my email address; on Instagram with the tag (@unadornedeats) and/or hash-tag (#unadornedeats); or attach them to a comment below!

Love and luck in your cooking!

- Unadorned Eats

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Tôm Cuốn Hành (Spring Onion Wrapped Prawn and Pork Belly)

This dish is great when you want something lighter than the typical rice paper rolls, but want to enjoy similar flavours. It's really difficult to stop after you start, as they give an explosion of flavours and textures all in one...(or two) bites! These little wraps are usually served with mắm tôm, a shrimp paste-based dipping sauce which I've also posted a recipe for (click here). 

If you're not accustomed to the pungency of shrimp paste, you can switch out the mắm tôm for tương chấm gỏi cuốn which is a hoisin-based sauce typically served with gỏi cuốn (rice paper rolls); or nước chấm, the standard Vietnamese fish sauce-based dipping sauce.

Tôm Cuốn Hành is a dish that originates from North Vietnam and is often served at weddings in 
the countryside with mắm tôm, which is known as mắm nêm in northern Vietnam. It is a great recipe to prepare as an entree for any occasion, as you can prepare it a few hours in advance and refrigerate it until ready to serve. These wraps can also be served on individual plates or placed on a large plate in the middle of the table to encourage mingling and interaction at the dinner table (a common practice in Vietnamese culture, as meal times are a family time and should be a time for interaction).

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Tôm Cuô'n Hành (Spring Onion Wrapped Prawn and Pork Belly)

Ingredients:

          800g cooked prawns (I used frozen prawns and thawed before use)
          1.5kg pork belly
          Sugar & salt (I typically use 1 tsp. salt to 3 tbsp sugar, to season pork belly as it cooks)
          2 bunches young spring onions (younger onions are less pungent and aren't as tough)
          1 tray bánh hỏi (vermicelli sheets - you can sub for 1/2 bag vermicelli noodles)
          1 lettuce head (I like to use Butterhead)
          1 bunch Vietnamese mint (rau răm)

Method:

1. In a pot, place pork belly, sugar and salt and cover with water. Remove pork when it is cooked (you'll know when there is some resistance when you push the pork with chopsticks). Set aside to cool
2. Peel, devein  prawns and halve lengthwise. Place into bowl and set aside
3. Bring a pot of water to a boil and blanch spring onions. Submerge in bowl of iced water
4. Wash and tear lettuce into pieces large enough to hold your prawn, pork and vermicelli noodles
5. Once pork is cooled, thinly slice
6. Separate spring onion bunches into individual lengths
7. Arrange ingredients: lettuce, vermicelli, pork, Vietnamese mint then prawn and wrap using spring onion as a tie, tucking the loose end back into the loop
8. Serve with mắm tôm or any dipping sauce of your choice

Close up of a single spring onion wrap (this was my dinner for the night!-yum-)

****Tips: 

You can add or omit any other fresh herbs as you please. This is just a base recipe so feel free to make it your own (chạo tôm, prawn cake, would be a great variation!)

Complementing Recipes:

- Mắm Tôm (Shrimp Paste Dipping Sauce) Recipe

Click here for the recipe. A strong, satisfyingly spicy shrimp paste-based sauce that is used as a condiment for various Vietnamese dishes.
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I'd love to see your versions of my recipes if you try them! Feel free to send them through to my email address; on Instagram with the tag (@unadornedeats) and/or hash-tag (#unadornedeats); or attach them to a comment below!

Love and luck in your cooking!

- Unadorned Eats

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Bò bía with Thai basil

This is the perfect recipe to use up any jícama you have lying around, just as I did when my dad bought a whole bag of small organic tubers. If you would like to learn a little more about jícama, I have an 'Ingredients Explained' post about them (click here).

Bò bía is Vietnamese version of popiah introduced to the country through Chinese immigrants. Oddly enough there is no beef in the rolls as the name would suggest, in fact, bò bía is simply a phonetic translation of the original Chinese popiah. Rather than being served with a dipping sauce, hoisin sauce and Sriracha (if desired) is added inside the wrap, similar to Peking duck pancakes - you can also substitute for nước chấm (fish sauce based) if you prefer.

The flavour of the rolls are perfectly balanced with a slight leaning towards sweet between the saltiness of the dried shrimps, the freshness of the basil, the crunch of the jícama and the salty-sweetness of the Chinese sausage and the hoisin sauce.

One of my bò bía rolls that I had for lunch -I can never get my rolls looking perfect!-

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Bò Bía (Jícama Rolls)

Ingredients:

          6 whole eggs, lightly beaten to break yolks
          Chinese sausages (lạp xưởng/ 腊肠)
          3-4 large jícama, peeled with black 'eyes' removed and washed
          1/2 cup dried shrimps (tôm khô)
          Oil
          Salt & sugar (to season)
          Peanuts, roasted and crushed into coarse chunks
          Hoisin sauce (tương đen)
          Sriracha chili sauce (tương ớt, optional)
          Rice paper sheets (I use the thinner sheets for cold water)
          Thai basil (rau huế)

Method:

1. Heat a crepe pan with a little bit of oil and cook eggs as if you were making crepes. Set aside to cool before thinly slicing

Egg crêpes and lạp xưởng (Chinese sausage) to be prepared for bò bía filling

     2.  Slice Chinese sausages on the diagonal and cook in a pan with a small amount of oil (you 
          don't need too much oil because the sausages are quite fatty). Season to taste, keeping in 
          mind the salty-sweetness coming from the Chinese sausage and hoisin sauce. Set aside to
          cool
     3.  In the same pan, add julienned jícama and dried shrimp and sautée until jícama is tender

Julienned jícama ready to be sautéed as bò bía filling

     4.  To make the rolls, wet a rice paper sheet; spread a small amount of hoisin sauce; Sriracha; 
          and arrange desired quantities of remaining ingredients
     5.  You can either choose to serve the rolls pre-rolled or arrange the ingredients on a platter
          in the centre of the table for individualised rolls

****Tips: 

Bò bía can be pre-made and refrigerated as party finger food or for lunch the next day, because the rolls don't contain any starches aside from the rice paper, the roll won't become hard in the fridge

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The dried shrimp is usually cooked separately to the jícama, but I like to sautée them together because I find that the shrimp becomes much softer and easier to eat, as well as to simplify the steps. I generally like the bulk of my rolls to be jícama, as it allows the rolls to be tasty without being an overload of sweet and salty flavours.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! These rolls really fill you up because of the high water content and fibre in the jícama. I'd love to see your versions of my recipes if you try them! Feel free to send them through to my email address; on Instagram with the tag (@unadornedeats) and/or hash-tag (#unadornedeats); or attach them to a comment below!

Love and luck in your cooking!

- Unadorned Eats

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Definitely not the most attractive coloured nor smelling dipping sauce, especially if you're not used to the pungency of shrimp paste, but it gives such a great flavour to dishes such as tôm cuô'n hành (spring onion wrapped prawn and pork belly, as pictured) that you ought to give it a try!
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Mắm Tôm (Shrimp Paste Dipping Sauce)

Ingredients:

          2 tbsp. shrimp paste
          2 lemons, juiced
          2 tsp. sugar (or to taste)
          Chilies (optional)

Method:

1. Dissolve sugar into lemon juice
2. Add shrimp paste and stir until smooth
3. Crush a chili into the sauce to serve (optional)

****Tips: 

- Add extra sugar if you find the sauce too salty; add extra lemon juice to reduce the pungency of the sauce (be careful because adding too much can make the sauce too thin)

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I like to keep the chili separate to the sauce so that everyone can customise the spiciness to their own taste - we also eliminate the risk of not being able to cater to those who don't eat chilies. Also, crushing the chili into the sauce adds a much hotter flavour than slicing the chilies, as it releases more of the chili oil from the membrane (similar to how a mortar and pestle extracts the oils and flavours of spices and herbs). Sugar is in the recipe to balance out the saltiness of the shrimp paste without making it more liquid like the lemon juice, so if you find that the sauce is still too salty you can add more sugar.

I'd love to see your versions of my recipes if you try them! Feel free to send them through to my email address; on Instagram with the tag (@unadornedeats) and/or hash-tag (#unadornedeats); or attach them to a comment below!

Love and luck in your cooking!

- Unadorned Eats

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Jícama (pronounced /ˈhiːkəma/), otherwise known as củ sắn in Vietnamese, is the tuber of the yam bean. With its origins in Mexico and South America, the use of this water-dense root vegetable has spread into a number of cuisines across Asia.

During the Vietnam war, refugees would take jícama aboard the boats on which they fled the war-ravaged country. They would eat the jícama raw on its own (similar to how one would eat an apple) as a water source since water was difficult to get a hold of, as well as to sustain energy.

How it's grown/ where to find it

Jícama thrives in hotter climates and require long periods of no-frost to thrive and grow. Although jícama has a peak growing season in autumn (fall) you should be able to find this vegetable at your local grocer, if not, you'll find it at health food stores that have a fresh produce section or most commonly, your suburban Asian supermarket.

Health benefits

As a snack or crunchy addition to dishes, jícama are incredibly low calorie, as they have such a high water content. A great source of vitamin C which can help fight inflammation, jícama is also a great source of dietary fibre that will fill you up and keep you satisfied whilst providing hydration.

Nutritional information

Courtesy of USDA: http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/3315?qlookup=11603&max=25&man=&lfacet=&new=1

How it's prepared

Peeled jícama before black 'eyes' are removed

Its skin is very similar to that of ginger, but is slightly thicker, making it easier to peel. To peel a jícama, first remove the cut-end and lever your paring knife just below the skin and pull the skin away from yourself, being careful of your fingers. Do this from both cut-ends of the jícama to ensure the skin is thoroughly removed. You may find that the skin along with some dirt will remain caught between the crevices of the jícama, all you need to do to remove these is cut a small wedge where the skin and dirt are. Similar to potatoes, Jícama also have black 'eyes' that need to be removed before consumption. These 'eyes' are edible, however, they cause a bitter and unpleasant taste. Finally, gently wash your jícama under some cold running water to remove excess dirt (this process may also allow you to remove black 'eyes' previously missed).

Reccommended recipes

Now that your jícama is thoroughly cleaned you may be wondering what you can do with this strange tuber. Your first option is to simply eat it on its own raw. If, like me, the taste doesn't appease you then there are great recipes that I've posted (I will update this list as I post more recipes!):

- Jícama kebabs: Street hawkers in Vietnam (back when my dad was in school) would cut the jícama into bite-sized pieces and create a sort of skewered jícama kebab that people would dip in a bag containing fresh chili pounded with salt (muối ớt, similar to Pico De Gallo Mexican fruit seasonings). My dad said that they would chill the chunks in iced water and skewer them on order as a cool snack in the heat of Vietnam

- Bò Bía (Jícama Rolls): Click here for the recipe. A great fresh rice paper roll and can be pre-made and refrigerated for up to three nights.

Love and luck in your cooking!

- Unadorned Eats

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References:

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachyrhizus_erosus 
 - http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/3315?qlookup=11603&max=25&man=&lfacet=&new=1
- http://www.kitazawaseed.com/seeds_jicama_2.html
- http://www.specialtyproduce.com/produce/Jicama_917.php
- http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/jicama.html

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Smoked Salmon & Avocado Sushi (without rice) looking like a little dragon ball

This salmon avocado sushi isn't a recipe per se, but rather just a quick eat (and I mean quick!) I came home and just wanted something substantial yet wasn't going to give me that heavy feeling after eating. Afterall, it was an in-between time, I had missed lunch by a few hours and dinner was only a few hours away but I had to get something in my system!

In simpler terms, this was my snack for the day.

So craving sushi. that's what I decided to make. Going through the fridge and the pantry, I found everything I needed: smoked salmon, beautifully ripe avocado, nori plus Kewpie mayonnaise and Kikkoman soy sauce to serve.....but I was missing RICE. Nonetheless, since I wasn't looking to fill myself up I made the sushi without rice. After I finished, I realised that my rolls looked very similar to the dragon ball on an ornamental shield that I have giving me the perfect shot for my blog!


So the real recipe I'd like to share is one that I normally prepare for a filling when I make sushi for my family. It's a very simple, yet tasty tuna salad! This tuna salad can be used, not only for sushi, but my family often likes to put this in sandwiches or salad wraps to take for their packed lunch (because the tuna salad isn't overly wet, sandwiches and wraps won't become soggy by the time lunch rolls around).

Super simple & delicious tuna salad!

All of the ingredients in this recipe are always found in my pantry and fridge:

• - canned tuna: great for a lazy snack or to add protein to a salad;
• - onions: great base for all recipes
• - Kewpie mayonnaise: is the preferred mayonnaise of my family (it has a very creamy texture and has a different tartness compared to regular mayonnaise)
• - sweet chili sauce: easy dipping sauce and lazy way to add flavour to dishes (such as tuna salad!)

So this recipe is literally always an easy, simple & favourite option when we can't decide what to have for lunch or a snack!
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Tuna Salad

Ingredients:

          425g can of tuna in springwater
          1 whole red onion, finely diced
          approx. 3 tbsp. Kewpie mayonnaise (or to taste)
          approx. 3 tbsp. sweet chili sauce (or to taste)

Method:

1. Drain the tuna in a sieve, if needed gently push the pieces against the side of the sieve to remove excess springwater/brine
2. Transfer tuna to a medium-sized bowl and separate chunks into smaller flakes
3. Add onion, mayonnaise and sweet chili sauce and combine with a fork
4. You can also add extra salt and/or pepper but I usually find that the tuna has enough of a salty taste to omit additional salt

***Tip: 

To reduce the sharpness of the onion, mix the onion with 1 tsp. of lemon juice whilst preparing the canned tuna (this will also reduce the chance of getting onion-breath)

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This tuna salad gives great flavour to any sandwich, wrap or sushi roll. It provides a little crunch from the onion and a subtle sweetness from the sweet chili sauce to balance out the bite of the onion.

I'd love to see your versions of my recipes if you try them! Feel free to send them through to my email address; on Instagram with the tag (@unadornedeats) and/or hash-tag (#unadornedeats); or attach them to a comment below!

Love and luck in your cooking!

- Unadorned Eats

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Steamed Crème Caramel (Classic Vanilla): my first attempt! -apologies for the iPhone snap-

For my first post I'd to share with you my recipe for steamed crème caramel!

This is the perfect midweek recipe, as the ingredients will hopefully be lying in wait in your pantry and fridge!

Crème caramel is a sweet egg-based dessert whose origins lie in France. This dessert can be served either warm or cold - I prefer mine chilled in the fridge over night! Since the egg-based mixture is steamed, the crème caramel sets and is ready to eat as soon as it is cooked for a warm, silky smooth dessert. Chilling overnight allows for the dessert to become firmer and absorb more of the caramel, creating the distinct dark top seen on crème caramel desserts.

This was my first attempt...not involving a microwave (I tried a recipe for 'microwave oven custard pudding' by Ochikeron on YouTube). The microwave recipe turned out fine, except I found that I had to cook the dessert for longer than specified in Ochikeron's recipe and had to keep on checking on it to make sure that it wasn't over cooking and creating bubbles. I had a couple of ramekins that turned out bubbly crème caramels and a couple that were under-cooked - all were cooking at the same time. It might've been heat inconsistencies in my more-than-a-decade-old-microwave-oven, but that method left me pretty disappointed. I did, however, pick up a couple of tips from Ochikeron for making my caramel. As per her recipe, I made my caramel in the microwave - I probably could've done it in a pan but since I was dividing the caramel amongst 8 ramekins I thought I'd just do it in the microwave.

I actually preferred the steamed version of this dessert compared to the oven baked bain-marie versions I've had previously because I feel like it gives a much smoother, creamier texture and to me (a novice cook) baking in a bain-marie is much like steaming - so why not steam it?



Let's get on to the recipe itself. This is actually my mum's recipe which she oven baked. So if you prefer to bake it or don't have access to a steamer the recipe will work out perfectly fine too!
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Steamed Crème Caramel (Classic Vanilla)

Ingredients (caramel):

          4 tbsp. sugar
          4 tbsp. water
          2 tbsp. warm water (to stop cooking process)

Ingredients (crème):

          5 tbsp. sugar
          1 tsp. vanilla essence
          2 cups (1/2 litre) milk (I used skimmed milk)
          2 whole eggs (I used free range organic eggs, but any will work fine)
          4 egg yolks

Method:

1. To make the caramel, microwave equal amounts of sugar and water for 2-3 minutes. Remove from microwave and add remaining water to stop caramel from browning further
2. Divide caramel between ramekins and set aside
3. In a medium bowl, whisk to break the eggs
4. Over the medium-low heat dissolve sugar and vanilla into milk. Heat until only just dissolved not boiling
5. Slowly pour milk mixture into eggs while continuously whisking
6. Strain mixture into ramekins
7. Place in steamer and steam for half the time with the lid on and the remaining with the lid off to prevent too high heat causing bubbles to form in the dessert
8. Cool and refrigerate until ready to serve

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This recipe yields such a smooth and creamy dessert even using skimmed milk (which is a bonus in my books!) whilst maintaining the integrity of the dessert in not making it taste like you're missing out on aspects of a crème caramel you'd be used to having been made with full-fat milk. It's sweet but not a too-sweet dessert that you'd want to enjoy with a cup of tea or need a gulp of water to properly enjoy. Next time I make this I think I'll make a little extra caramel for each crème caramel, as I'd like a little more of a bitter flavour for the dessert, but otherwise I think it's quite a foolproof recipe! If I mastered it on first attempt then anyone can!

This recipe can also be modified to create different flavoured crème caramels. As long as you don't alter the quantity of milk you can infuse the milk with any flavours such as replacing the vanilla with flavoured liqueur or coffee to make a coffee crème caramel! (That might just be my next experiment! Hopefully my family doesn't get sick of them too quickly!)

In Vietnam, creme caramel is called bánh flan (both the dessert and the use of the letter 'f' are remnants of French colonisation) and the dessert can be found served with coffee poured over the top as a bitter sauce to cut through the sweetness, similar to the bitterness of the caramel.

I'd love to see your versions of my recipes if you try them! Feel free to send them through to my email address; on Instagram with the tag (@unadornedeats) and/or hash-tag (#unadornedeats); or attach them to a comment below!

Love and luck in your cooking!

- Unadorned Eats

Read more