So all I wanted was rice noodles.  Quarter-inch thick rice noodles – to be exact.  Last time I bought them in Carrefour and saw a whole boxful in the Al Maya market just downstairs from my apartment.  Should be as easy as buying oh, rice perhaps?

Well, I don’t know what’s worse.  Driving to 5 different grocery stores in far reaching parts of Dubai and not finding any rice noodles at all…….Or going to the Waitrose by my house, and almost (almost!) scoring rice noodles only to notice that instead of plain…they sold only CARROT, SPINACH, or PUMPKIN flavor. WTF!?!

I kid you not.  You can see the proof for youself in the photo.  I think at this point I started hysterically laughing/crying and my husband had to drag me out of the store to avoid any potential embarrasment to himself.

My mom makes a killer Vietnamese Sweet and Sour Soup. It’s pretty much restaurant quality. Actually, it’s better than restaurant quality. She gave me the recipe a few years a go and I like to make it every once in a while because it’s mm-mm good. DB’s not a big soup person so he will usually have one small bowl while I finish off the rest of the pot by myself.

I made a small pot today to use up some of the recao (“nice-smelling-herb” or “sawtooth herb” or whatever it’s called) I bought at Sunflower the Thai market yesterday.  Slurping gooooood!

A while back, I was flipping through these two Vietnamese cookbooks and came upon their versions of this soup. Both recipes in each book called for the addition of tamarind pulp. So I thought I’d buy some tamarind and try it out. Another recipe also called for some lemongrass. I had some lemongrass in the freezer, so I tried throwing that in the pot too.

(Shaking head) I should never have messed with THE MOM RECIPE. Why did I have to spoil a good thing? I was hoping I could make what was great even greater but the soup that came out of the lemon grass and tamarind experiment not only tasted all wrong but made me sick. Real sick, if you know what I mean.

First let me say that I managed to figure out my photo uploading issued with Wordpress.  Turns out that I have neglected upgrading to the new version for months and months now and after upgrading to the lates WP version, everything is working again.  Well…sort of.  I have never been able to upload via Firefox so only IE works. 

Yesterday I had my 6th prenatal visit at American Hospital so I thought I’d try to find the nearby Kim’s mart that is on my map of Dubai Asian Grocery Stores and also to pick up some Thai basil from Sunflower foodmart for a Vietnamese dish that I’m cooking up this weekend.

So I drove out of American Hospital towards Lamcy and followed my map to find this Kim’s mart.  I drove and drove around in circles trying the other nearby streets as well.  No luck!  If anyone has any idea where this market is, please be so kind as to let me know.  I have also heard of something called Dean’s Fuji-something Japanese mart.  Any leads on this would be great as well!

I’ve been to Sunflower (the Thai store) in Karama twice now so can pretty much find it without my map.  However, I haven’t been able to drive myself directly in front of the store.  I always end up on a one-way loop about two blocks away – it’s easier for me to just park and walk the two blocks than to figure out from my map how to loop around again.  I love the fact that the streets of Karama are windy-bendy but I also hate it for the same reason.  If you know where to go, it’s all peachy-keen but if you don’t, then it’s a f@*%ing nightmare.

Anyway, I got to the store around 4:30pm as I remember getting there once between 1 and 4pm and it was closed.  They seemed to have a new shipment that just arrived from Thailand or something because there were 10 or so styrofoam ice boxes in the back area with loads of Asian goodies for making all sorts of yummy dishes!

In addition to Thai basil, I bought some Asian cilantro (I don’t know what it’s really called but in Puerto Rico it’s called “recao” and it’s great for spaghetti bolegnese and in Vietnamese, my mom calls it something that translates to “nice-smelling-herb” and I’ve seen it labeled as “sawtooth herb” in some cookbooks.  Anyway, we use it for Vietnamese Sweet and Sour Soup - yum yum yum!  Here’s what it looks like:

Finally, I also bought a large taro because I needed it for my Vietnamese spring rolls.  At least I hope it’s taro because it looks different from what I thought it should look like.  I guess I’ll find out tomorrow when I cut into the thing! Sadly, I did not find any sugarcane (normally sold in a can) so I guess making Vietnames grilled shrimp on sugarcane is out.

Sunflower also has a bunch of other things I might find useful in the future such as banana leaves, pandan leaves, lots of Asian veggies, spices, etc.  I also liked the fact that most of the unidentifiable stuff (at least to me) was labeled in English.

After Karama, I had an hour to kill before meeting up with my husband so I decided to see if I could find the Korean foodmart in Al Barsha called “1004 Mart” which is also on my map (which I forgot to print out and bring with me) so after driving around in circles a bit I finally found it (see picture of store front above).

The store stocks mostly Korean items similar to the Hanarum and Safestway one but the items are labeled in English which is a big help since I don’t read Korean and don’t know what 99.9% of the stuff is.  Maybe after my Vietnamese supper party I’ll do a Korean one?

It’s been many long months but the search for bubble tea has finally yielded some results and I have tasted and photographed the proof!

Noodle House (a Jumeirah branded restaurant) has introduced Bubble Tea at their restaurants for 18 dirhams.  I had the almond one and it wasn’t as good as the ones I’ve had in NYC but it was good enough for now. 

Here is the bubble tea menu (click on the picture for a larger image): 

Will be sure to stop by Kitsch one of these days to check out their Bubble Tea as well.

Woo-hoo! Now I don’t have to drive all the way to Karama for my Korean fix!

 

New, bright, and airy. Well laid out aisles, a frozen section in the middle:

 

Instant noodles galore:

 

Seaweed and more noodles:

This is a dish I cooked up months ago but just got around to posting. La-ham nashif or meat fried with spices is a simple one-pot dish (minus the boiling of the lamb) that’s so simple and delicious I can’t wait to make it again!

The word nashif means dry with a little gravy. This is a modern dish which is fairly simple to make, yet its taste and texture belie its simplicity. Usually prepared as an evening meal, it is more popular in the winter months accompanied by bread. It is also a favourite picnic dish at weekends, when the nashif will be packed into a thermal container. Served with bread, sliced onions and tomatoes, this dish can also be prepared with chicken, truffles, shrimps or deboned tuna.

The spices in this dish include the bezar, turmeric, and ground cardamon:

I had some lamb chunks leftover from the last Arabic recipe (lamb saloona) that I boiled in water for 45 minutes to tenderize:

 

I chopped up some fresh coriander and garlic:

 

Sliced onions were fried in vegetable oil until golden brown:

 

When the onion was browned, I added the spices and garlic:

 

After a few minutes, I added the lamb and some water to make a thick gravy. Then served it all up over basmati rice:

 

Like I said, this was a simple dish to make, the lamb was so tender, and the spices really brought out the flavors of the meat.
 

Note: This post is part of my Cooking Local project.

Last Sunday: Meat Stew

Up next Sunday: Fish Cakes (Sa-mak koufta)

Last Saturday, DB and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. We decided to get married when we found out that DB was getting transferred to Dubai for work. Getting married meant that my residence visa, health insurance, etc wouldn’t be an issue if I decided not to work.

We chose the 5th anniversary of our first date as the special day. Sad to say that we haven’t printed a single wedding photo yet for framing. I’ll get around to it…eventually.

To celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary, we went to Vu’s at Emirates Towers. Of course, we started of with some bubbly
 

Here are photos of our meal:
 

“CRAB” – My starter of snow crab cannellone, caramelized chicken wings, orange flavored bisque, morels foam:
 

“TUNA & SCAMPI” - DB’s starter of butter poached scampi and toro roulade, avocado bavarois, yuzu jelly, oriental dressing:
 

DB ordered his favorite wine – a Barolo:
 

“WAGYU ASSIETTE” - My entree of seared tenderloin, braised cheek and herbs pastilla, mash potato, asian rataouille:
 

“LAMB LOIN” - DB’s entree of soy marinated lamb, apple compote, caramelized baby onions, apple puree porcini mushrooms and lamb jus:
 

We were given a free dessert in honor of our anniversary and I have to say that it was very very good! Which is saying a lot because I don’t like dessert (other than creme brulee and chocolate soufles). It was just the right balance of sweet and bitter:
 

The food was all excellent! And in case you think I have a photgraphic memory to be able to remember what we ate, word-for-word, I better dispel that thought right now by saying that I asked for a menu to take home. Maybe I’ll get around to framing it one day.

Even though it is 40°C (104°F) outside every day, it is 22°C (71.5°F) in my apartment and we don’t even have the A/C on!

So I was looking forward to this La-Ham Murraq / Saloona or meat stew recipe:

Like chicken and fish saloona, this is very common throughout the UAE, indeed in some homes it is cooked twice a day. Because it can be accompanied by so many other things – rice, biryani or bread for example, it is a flexible dish.

A daily cooked Ramadan dish, it is popular for sending into the Mosques during the holy month as it is filling and nutritious. It is also one of the most famous Bedouin dishes.

Serve with dishes of sliced limes, dates, radishes, garlic chives, sliced white onion and buttermilk.

I had to half this recipe since I was only cooking for 2 people so I used 1 pound of lamb shoulder and cut it into small chunks:
 

 

The lamb was then simmered in a large pot of water for 30 minutes to tenderize the meat and to remove the foamy meat scum that boils out. This way, the final stew doesn’t get all gross with floaty gray bubble bits.

While the meat simmered, I chopped up the potatoes, carrots, onions, tomatoes, and smashed up a few garlic cloves:
 

 

When the lamb was done simmering, I drained it and discarded the water. Next I browned the onions in canola oil for a few minutes and then threw in the garlic, lamb, the spices (bezar, turmeric, cinnamon bark, salt, pepper, and whole loomi), and the chopped veggies. I simmered for stew for one hour:
 

 

The brown balls floating in the stew are whole loomi which is dried limes (see photo below). It is often sold and packaged as dried lemons for some reason. It has a smell and taste similar to preserved Chinese kumquats.
 

 

After one hour, we had this bowl of goodness to enjoy:
 

 

It came out more of a soup than a stew but I think that may be because I didn’t use a starchy enough potato. The lamb was very tender, the loomi gave the soup a slight tang, and the bezar gave it a bit of a spicy kick.

I liked it very much and it was even better for breakfast the next day!
 

Note: This post is part of my Cooking Local project.

Last Sunday: Chicken with rice in the bottom.

Up next Sunday: Lamb fried with spices (La-ham nashif)

But to get to really know Dubai, I think it’s also important to visit the more modest establishments and the stand alone restaurants.

A bunch of girls and I have been visiting a different restaurant every 2 weeks. We take turns organizing each dinner and the only criteria is that the meal has to be less than 100 Dirhams ($27) per person.

It’s a great way to explore different parts of Dubai, eat lots of delicious food, and best of all, meet new people and catch up on girl talk.

So far, we’ve been to the following restaurants:
 

1. Nanking (Chinese, Indonesian – Bur Dubai). The food was good and portions were huge. There was a lot of doggy-bagging that night.

2. Shahjahan (Indian – Metropolitan Hotel). Unfortunately, I missed out on this one .

3. Noodle Bowl (Chinese – Satwa). Good Cantonese food. We sat outdoors as the weather was still nice.

4. Thai Terrace (Thai – Bur Dubai). Mmm….great Thai food and the flavors were very authentic. So much better than Smiling BKK.

5. Curry On (Thai, Indian – Beach Road). This used to be the old Noshi Noshi. We visited on another beautiful day in May and were able to sit outside again. The food came in tastings of threes so it was quite fun!
 

 

6. Nando’s (South African – SZR). This is a South African chain that serves up some pretty good chicken with their Peri Peri sauce. The Chicken Espetada was my favorite. I love the way it was presented with the vegetables on the bottom and the meat skewer hanging above the platter:
 

 

7. Royal Orchid (Thai – Dubai Marina). Really great Thai food but pricier than the other places we’ve been too. Loved the fish cakes:
 

 

8. Ravi’s (Indian – Satwa). The food was pretty good and was the best deal yet at 25 Dirhams a head! They serve Lamb’s Brain so if you like odd food like me – give it a try.
 

And there is still many more to visit – we’ve got at least 20 more restaurants on the list so far!

This was my first attempt at an Arabic recipe. It is from Celia Ann Brock-Al Ansari’s “The Complete United Arab Emirates Cookbook.” I will not be re-printing the recipe here but you can access it via the above link.

About this dish, Celia writes:

“This must be prepared in a non-stick pot, for once it is cooked, the process of transferring it to a round rice platter can be tricky. Care must be taken to avoid breaking the crust which forms around the bottom of the rice pot.

A very attractive dish to present, it is usually served with plain yoghurt, sliced limes and raw sliced onion.

Considered to be a modern local dish, it can be also feature fish or meat instead of chicken.”

I’m going to say right off the bat that I’m not sure if this dish came out the way it was supposed to. I made so many changes to the recipe (some intentional, some not) that it could be considered a failed first attempt. But it did turn out very tasty!

The recipe calls for an Arabic spice mix called bezar or bizar. It is widely available in grocery stores, contains these ingredients and it cost me 11 dhs (US$3). Like Indian curry powder, you could make it yourself from grinding up whole spices but I bought mine pre-mixed:
 

 

To start, I cleaned and cut up a whole chicken (1 kg / 2.2 lbs), rubbed it with the bezar, salt, cardamon and turmeric and I let it sit for 15 minutes. I really wanted to pepper the chicken b/c I tend to salt and pepper everything. But the recipe didn’t call for pepper so I resisted the urge.

While the chicken was hanging out, I boiled 1 cup of basmati rice in salted water. The recipe called for 4 cups but I think that’s a lot of rice for 2 people. Even 1 cup of rice lasts us a few days – I can’t imagine 4 cups! That’s like dinner for 12!

After the chicken parts had been sitting in the dry rub for 15 minutes, I browned them in vegetable oil:
 

 

The browning of the chicken smelled so good – all the aromas of the spices (expecially the cardamom) wafted through the kitchen. After the chicken was browned, I took it out of the pan and set it aside.

Next, I browned up some onions and garlic in more vegetable oil. Added some ground loomi (dried limes), chickpeas (just a little as I hate chickpeas), and tomato paste with a little water. The recipe called for tomato puree but what I thought was puree in my pantry was actually diced tomatoes so I had to improvise with the paste and water:
 

 

Now it was time to assemble everything!

I put some oil in the bottom of a pot, added the rice, chicken, and the onion/chickpea mixture. I pressed everything down with a spoon and then poured in the saffron that had been soaking in hot water:
 

 

I was supposed to cover the pot with a wet cloth but I didn’t have one so I used a wet paper towel instead. I let the mixture simmer for 20 min and then took it off the heat and let is sit for 10 min:
 

 

At this point, I re-read the instructions and realized too late that I was supposed to use a nonstick pot. Oh well, I don’t have a nonstick pot anyway and I don’t think it would have made much of a difference to the final product considering the mess that I had already made of things.

This is what the dish looked like when I flipped the pot upside down onto a plate:
 

 

Well, it certainly is “rice with chicken in the bottom” but there was no “crust” formed at the bottom of my pot. Maybe I didn’t use enough oil or my rice was too wet. I was so upset with this dish that I didn’t even have the motivation to make it look nice or garnish.

Anyway, here’s what the dish looked like when plated:
 

 

The night I made this dish, I just wanted to cry at the way it turned out. But now, I just want to laugh – I mean – how ridiculous does that plate look? I should send myself to culinary school. You definitely won’t be seeing me on the next Top Chef or The Next Food Network Star anytime soon.

As per the instructions, I served it with yogurt, sliced onions (I’m assuming raw?) and sliced limes. It doesn’t look like much does it? Besides the fact that I need to work on my plating skills!

I was also worried that it wouldn’t taste like much but it was surprisingly quite good for a botched up attempt! DB, who had not been looking forward to this cooking project of mine, was also pleasantly surprised that he liked the dish and ate it with much gusto!

So there you have it: Arabic Cooking Part I. Hopefully, next week’s attempt will turn out better!

Up next Sunday is: Lamb Stew or La-ham murraq.