HUMMUS and baba ghanoush are everyday staples of the Middle East. They are usually served as a dip, spread or appetiser where diners scoop the mashed ingredients with a cracker or flatbread.
Hummus literally means chickpeas in Arabic. They are called garbanzo beans in Italian. I have cooked these from scratch before, and it requires overnight soaking and then boiling for about two hours.
It is very easy to transform these ordinary ingredients into extraordinary dips with a Middle Eastern flair. Photos: YAP CHEE HONG/The Star
I find that I get the same results with an inexpensive can of chickpeas, which is already salted and perfectly cooked. You just need to check the salt level and season accordingly.
Mandarin oranges are abundant around Chinese New Year and it is a cultural tradition for some communities to throw excess oranges into the river on Chap Goh Meh.
CHINESE New Year dishes are often perceived to be time-consuming and require a joint effort from every family member.
But when you discover a shortcut, it makes perfect sense to prepare a complicated dish by eliminating a few difficult steps.
‘Woo tau kau yoke’ is a traditional Hakka meatloaf.
For anyone who has ever made woo tau kau yoke, a Hakka dish that involves frying seasoned pork belly in hot oil then steaming it for a few hours, that first step of preparing the pork can be substituted with store-bought roast pork.
The seasoning for roast pork is essentially salt and five-spice powder, the exact same flavouring as the marinade for the fried pork.