I am sure everybody has their own magic ingredient/s. I just realised last night that mine's gotta be the creamy, rich, exotic and super fragrant coconut milk. It gives my dishes the extra oooompphh!
Just like my favorite little gold necklace (I'll add the picture), which perfects my outfit every time, this magic ingredient makes everything suddenly taste...exotic yet familiar, rich yet subtle, simply out-of-this-world magical!
Am I hard-selling this ingredient too much? Will this qualify me as a coconut milk sales lady? (or do they call it "sales associate" these days?) hehehe
Growing up in Indonesia, I've seen our family's helper, Mbok Yem making coconut milk all the time. While boxed/canned coconut milk/cream is easily available in Hong Kong and I bet anywhere in the world, it is no match to the coconut milk resulted from the freshly grated and squeezed home-made coconut milk. My busy lifestyle (i.e. my lazy ass) does not really give me the luxury of time to try making my own coconut milk, so I had to settle with the boxed ones, but you can try to make your own coconut milk this way.
I wanted to make a creamy tuna and pumpkin pasta last night (as I have a spare can of tuna in spring water ^_^), I was contemplating to use milk, cream or coconut milk...and decided to go with coconut milk. It made it perfect! The oceanic scent of tuna, the sweet and earthy tone of pumpkin, and the magic touch of coconut milk...stop it!
(I don't wanna be a pushy sales associate! I just can't be that person I've been trying to dodge throughout the mall all the time! LOL)
Recipe
- 1 can of tuna in spring water
- 1/4-1/2 small pumpkin (the pumpkin diameter is approx 15 cm), peeled, thinly sliced, softened in microwave for 10 minutes with a bit of water
- 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 5 cloves of shallot, thinly sliced
- 1 cm ginger, peeled & crushed
- 1/2 packet of farfalle
- 1 small box/can of coconut milk
- olive oil, salt, pepper, sugar
Saute garlic, ginger and shallot, add pumpkin pieces, add tuna pieces with the water, bring to boil, add coconut milk, add seasoning, lower heat. Prepare pasta according to the instructions on the packaging, drain, pour on the sauce mix, stir, heat through, sprinkle fresh chopped corriander/parsley flakes to garnish, serve hot.
Harry Potter and your magic wand, take that!
Sharing this with Presto Pasta Night's Gang!
Just after saying I don't wanna be a pushy salesman, here I go again:
Few more days to go, release the little Chinese in you, see you at the Chinese Take-Out Party Round Up!
no more selling, I promise...for now, hehe
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20 comments:
This would be fusion for me... never had pasta with pumpkin and santan (coconut milk) before.
I guess the magic is in the ingredients, huh? :)
oh boy. coconut milk and pasta huh. That's an excellent idea.
Coconut milk added to pasta...that's really a good trick - can I call it Pasta alla Santan or Pasta alla Coconara :P
I just submitted my entry to your take-out party! Hope the email did not get into spam! It will sometimes:P ...maybe they don't like this "shameless" entry :O
wah aku msh due pumpkin kiy... bingung rep tak masak opo...
Ah sek penting kan ono tulisane Hong Kong lah Jeng... ra sah lutu-2nan n apik-apikan, aku kolesi wes 23 negoro hehe...
ritaaaa...belum round up kann..:P, aku belum bikin iki, besok kayaknya mau bikin buat dirimu..:D
Duh enaknya Rit. Anak-anakku doyan banget makanan kayak gini. Due date party mu sebelum tanggal 12 mei ya Rit, masih ngetik drfat resep nih...kayaknya jadi Bakmoy :))
Wow, this sounds amazing! farfalle is my favorite pasta, but I like salmon over tuna. Reading through it my mind came up with a Michigan version ... fresh grilled salmon, pieces of oven-roasted pumpkin, the whole of it garnished with roasted red bell peppers, the coconut milk becomes sweetened condensed milk ... yeah, I'm going to have to try a few versions!
Rita, I could eat coconut milk straight out of the can!
pasta and santen.. penemuan baru neh Rit. jadi pengen nyobain
What a nice combinations. Never thought of cooking pasta with coconut milk. I guess being Asian we just can't stay away from coconut milk. I do miss our freshly squeeze coconut milk from home. The can ones just doesn't taste the same :(
Now the secret's out! Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Night. It does sound wonderful.
As for Chinese take out...I'm trying to get some baby bok choy for the dish I'm planning...so far no luck, but tomorrow is market day. Keep your fingers crossed.
I love coconut milk. This pasta dish looks amazing! Im a sucker for pumpkin too~
What a great combination of ingredients! Sounds terrific!
Must be exotic meal.I never try coconut milk with pasta.I always replace cream in curry or lemak food...hehehe sort of health!.but love coconut flavour!!.
This pasta sounds really good. I like using pumpkin in pasta and it sounds like it would go well with coconut milk. I recently discovered coconut milk and I have really been enjoying it!
Yummo Rita - coconut and pumpkin are great flavours, so I imagine they'd be smashing in the one dish.
That looks delicious. I love farfalle, and I love coconut milk, so what's not to like??
This sounds absolutely wonderful!
Rita dearest, I am so sorry that I did not get to take part in the event. I was busy with the book and deadlines but I promise next time to make a better effort.
I passed along an award to you, if you want to check out my blog, it's in the pound cake post. ;)
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