Be here with myself, quietly

Pushing open the kitchen windows brought in humid spring breeze and music by the chirping birds showing up after rain. 

I took my enamel tray out, filling it in with the ingredients I needed from the fridge – red prawns, baby tomatoes, parsley and eggs. I gently closed the fridge door for not banging it onto the fridge since the floor was a bit uneven, and tiptoed to reach my tipo 00 flour. The garlic bulb was just at the corner of the counter top. I peeled two cloves off and put them into the tray. Lastly, I grabbed a small bottle of white wine from the cellar. All set for cooking. 

Cooking a dish I crave for is not just about contentment on taste buds but also a therapeutic time in which I can untangle my emotions. Whether it is pasta making or bread dough kneading, brewing scallion oil or simply cracking eggs, as long as I am in the kitchen, pouring my attention on my ten fingertips, focusing on the prep work, listening to the oil sizzling, smelling the garlic fragrance filled the air, watching the prawns turning from translucent to opaque and having my mind devoted to my manual work, it’s therapeutic. Let bygones be bygones, let the future stay in the future, putting all the loose ends of wandering thoughts back in place and bringing your awareness back to present. It’s only when one’s mind quiets down, her inner voice is listened, her ingredients in hands are listened. I adore this scene in the film 《An》- the old lady Kiki Kirin played was cooking candied red beans in a heavy pot. She listened to the sounds in the pot carefully and knew when delicious candied red beans were ready. It’s all seen by the mind. 

Cooking is a journey of meeting lives, as well as a quiet encounter with oneself. 

紅蝦闊條麵（一人份）

闊條麵材料（兩回量）：
00 號麵粉 100克
蛋黃 70克

材料：
連殻紅蝦 4隻
小番茄 3粒
蒜頭 一瓣
番茜 一小束
白酒 ¼ 杯
乾辣椒碎 少許
海鹽 少許
黑胡椒 少許
米糠油 半杯（或其他菜油）

闊條麵做法 （也可以乾麵條代替）：

1. 麵粉放在枱上或在大碗裡，在中間挖的井，把蛋黃放到井裡。
2. 以叉子從蛋黃中攪拌，把蛋黃四周的麵粉拌入。
3. 麵糰稍為成型後，以手揉稔至表面光滑。
4. 以保鮮紙包好，放到雪櫃冷藏30分鐘。
5. 拿出麵糰，稍稍壓平，切半成兩份。
6. 在食物攪拌器加上壓麵機配件，調至最闊的設定，將其中一份麵糰壓平兩次。
7. 調窄一度，麵糰壓平兩次。
8. 再調窄一度，麵糰壓平兩次，麵糰片最後應約1-2毫米厚。
9. 麵糰片上灑上麵粉。
10. 換上闊條麵切麵條配件，將麵糰片切成麵條，灑上麵粉以防黏着。
11. 一份麵條備用，另一份以保鮮紙包好放到保鮮盒裡，放進雪櫃可保存一天。

做法：

1. 蝦子洗淨瀝乾，剝去蝦頭及殻，抹乾待用。在蝦背輕劃一下，去掉蝦腸，蝦肉抹乾備用。
2. 在鍋裡下油半杯，以中高火加熱，加入蝦頭蝦殻，轉中火熬成蝦油。當油轉成赤紅，發出蝦的香味即可，濾起備用。
3. 蒜頭去衣切片，小番茄切半，番茜略切，菜莖與葉分開。
4. 煮一鍋沸水備用。
5. 以中火燒熱平底鍋，下油，下蒜片、小番茄、乾辣椒碎及番茜莖，炒香後下白酒。
6. 在另一鍋沸水裡下闊條麵，新鮮意粉煮約3分鐘，乾意粉煮至比彈牙硬一點。意粉水備用。
7. 平底鍋裡的番茄汁液煮至微稠，下蝦肉，煮至半熟後，下闊條麵。
8. 下海鹽、黑胡椒、半勺意粉水，拌勻。有需要可再加意粉水。
9. 煮至鍋底留有少許醬汁，蝦子熟至8分，加入番茜葉，拌勻即可。
10. 上碟後，澆上蝦油。

Red Prawn Fettuccine (for 1)

Fettuccine ingredients (2 portions):
Tipo 00 flour 100g
Egg yolks 70g

Ingredients:
Red prawns in shell 4pcs
Baby tomatoes 3pcs
Garlic 1 clove
Fresh parsley A small bunch
White wine ¼ cup
Dried chili flakes A pinch
Sea salt A pinch
Black pepper A pinch
Rice bran oil ½ cup（or vegetable of your choice）

Making the fettuccine （or you can use dried ones）：

1. Place the flour in a mound on the countertop of in a mixing bowl. Dig a well in the middle of the mound and add the yolks in. 
2. Whisk the yolks from the centre with a fork to incorporate the flour around.
3. After you have a shabby dough, knead it with hands until it has a smooth surface.
4. Wrap the dough in cling film and let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
5. Take the dough out, roll it even and slightly flatter, and cut it into 2 equal halves。
6. Attach the pasta roller on your food processor. Feed the dough through the roller twice in the widest setting. 
7. Reduce the width setting, feed the pasta sheet into the roller twice。
8. Reduce the width setting again, feed the pasta sheet into the roller twice. The pasta sheets now should be 1-2mm thick.
9. Dust your pasta sheets with flour.
10. Attach the fettuccine cutter to the food processor, feed the cutter with the pasta sheets. Dust the fresh fettuccine with flour
11. Set one portion aside. Wrap another portion in cling film, and then put it in an airtight box. It can be kept for 1 day in the fridge.

Steps:

1. Wash and dry the prawns. Remove the heads and shells, dry and set aside. Devein the prawn, set aside。
2. Heat ½ cup of oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Add the prawn heads and shells, cook in medium heat till the oil turns red and fragrant. Sieve the shells, keep the oil and set aside.
3. Peel and slice the garlic, half the baby tomatoes, roughly chop the parsley. Separate the leaves from stalks.
4. Boil a pot of water.
5. Heat up another pan over medium heat. Add oil, garlic, tomatoes, dried chili flakes and parsley stalk. Add white wine after you can smell the fragrance of garlic.
6. Add the pasta to boil water, cook for 3 minutes, or if you use dried pasta, cook till slightly under al dante. Keep the pasta water. 
7. When the sauce in the pan is slightly reduced,add the prawns. Add the fettuccine when the prawns are half cooked.
8. Add sea salt, black pepper and half a ladle of pasta water, stir well. Add more pasta water if needed. 
9. When the sauce is reduced, the prawns are almost done, add the parsley leaves and mix well.
10. Add a drizzle of prawn oil before serving.

Jo Liu

It’s raining outside, crisp and bleak. Three chubby sparrows took shelter on my balcony and I gave them the baguette bits left on my breakfast plate but they flew away. I stayed in, played Damien Rice on vinyl and made apple crumble. Repeat.

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