Black Pepper

A Black Pepper Curry

Spicefreak1 Comment

So it’s finally happened, folks. The day that I’ve been dreading. The one where, despite my best efforts, all of my time in quarantine finally takes its toll and I lose track of the passing of days.

This post was supposed to be up last weekend, for the end of february, but the date escaped me and I genuinely thought that I had another week to finish it. I’m really sorry that things didn’t go to plan but I guess that you’re getting two big recipes this month.

So, without further ado, here’s my latest curry:

And this one’s something quite unique, since it’s not the north indian cuisine that we’re used to, here in the UK, but something from the south. As well as being a dish that, despite containing chilli, gets far more of its heat and flavour from black pepper.

It’s called a chettinad and it tastes absolutely nothing like what we tried last tuesday. Despite both being classified as indian cuisine.

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Joker Ramen

Spicefreak7 Comments

Hey folks, it’s recipe time again but, this month, I’m doing something that I haven’t done in a while – Reviewing someone else’s recipe.

You see, as I mentioned at the beginning of the year, I’ve had plans for ramen for quite a while. Yet my dreams of fiery tonkotsu were scuppered at the very start.

As it turns out, that milky-looking pork bone broth comes not just from making your own stock but from boiling the hell out of it for hours and hours on end. From getting every single ounce of fat and flavour out of the meat, which neither you, nor I, are likely to have the time for.

So I was all set to move on and make something else. Until I saw this:

JokerBowl

A dark bowl of coffee curry ramen made by Pixel Tea, as part of his “Gourmet Smash Ultimate” series of Super Smash Bros. inspired dishes.

It caught my attention with its theming – Derived from the favourite food and drink pairing of Persona 5’s protagonist – but also provided a fresh spin on japanese noodle stew and just enough spice that I could make it a feature.

In fact, Pixel’s overview alone was enough to sell me on this one. But the fact that his dish makes use of a custom spice blend, rather than a custom stock, is nothing short of a godsend.

It doesn’t make this a quick meal but it still cuts down the cooking time considerably. From most of a day to around two hours, all prep included.

So let’s see how it works out, shall we?

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Wasabi and Blueberry

Spicefreak6 Comments

Welcome back, everyone, to the last of my importer highlights. At least for a while.

Today, we’re looking at a company called Sous Chef, who previously featured as the suppliers for my rare peppercorn taste test and the bean paste in my mapo tofu.

This time, though, I don’t want to focus on their ingredients. I want to take a look at their import sauce:

soustwo

Why, because these guys don’t import a lot that’s ready to eat but they do import one of the most talked about sauces on Hot Ones. The controversial Ghost Pepper & Blueberry from Bravado Spice Co.

So today, I’ll be looking at that and a little something from the UK that they also stock. But we’ll talk about that item in a bit.

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Seven Pepper Tofu

Spicefreak7 Comments

Hey there everyone, it’s recipe time again and, this month, I’m keeping things simple. A simple recipe for one of my favourite chinese side dishes that shows off a non-chilli spice that I’ve not featured before.

But, more interestingly, today’s recipe doubles as a review. A test to see how other versions of the spice affect the heat and flavour of my dish. Because I bet you didn’t know that there were more than two breeds of pepercorn.

This time around, I’m going to feature a whopping seven in my salt and pepper tofu but don’t worry – I’m still going to make a batch with the standard black that we all know and love.

And, while I enjoy the dish as is, you can easily swap out the tofu for fried chicken bits if you fancy something with more meat. Or just a different texture since I know that, even at its crispiest, tofu isn’t for everyone.

I’m not going to tell you how to fry that chicken in this post but there’s always my chipotle korma one if you need some pointers.

And, with all that out of the way, let’s get started, shall we?

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Spicy Italian Salsa

Spicefreak3 Comments

Hello everyone, please welcome Simpson’s Seeds back to the stage. Without the accent of their last appearance but all the same lacklustre labelling:

arrowhead

Today’s bottle is clad again in plain paper, with nothing but black text printed on it. And, as you can see, you can’t even read it all from one angle.

It’s a problem that we saw before with The Unusual Chutney Company’s Fiendfyre but that sauce at least had art. The only thing this one has going for it, visually, is a gold trim to its shrink wrap.

Here’s the thing, though: I got this sauce from Reading Chilli Fest. I tasted it before I bought it. I know its looks aren’t representative of what’s inside this “Arrowhead Salsa”.

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Unleash the Demons

Spicefreak2 Comments

It’s thursday again, fiery food fans, and it’s a weird one.

Once again, I’m bringing you a sauce review off schedule. And no, it’s not for jokey reasons like last time.

Noone’s said that this sauce or its peppers are inedible. It’s just not available in the UK.

It’s an australian sauce that focuses on a unique heat source – A distant relative of black pepper known as the tasmanian mountain pepper.

Or, in some cases, the diemen pepper berry, the name from which today’s company get theirs.

2018-01-03 14.57.46

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Seafarer’s Special

Spicefreak7 Comments

Arrr, me hearties, it be talk like a pirate day* and do yer know what that means?

It means it’s time t’ batten down the hatches an’ bring out the Reading Chilli Fest booty fer a special, themed review, featurin’ Simpson’s Seeds’ Funky Monkey.

2017-09-11 11.19.25

Because no salty see dog would be caught dead without such a loveable rapscallion on deck.

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Translated from Pirate

Spicefreak1 Comment

Greetings, spice lovers, today is talk like a pirate day* and I’m sure you know what that means.

It means it’s time for me to put in a little extra effort and bring you a themed review of another special Reading item.

But, this isn’t that review. This is a rough translation of it. The real review I wrote for you took far more time and effort, learning how to not only talk like a pirate but also spell so.

I would, therefore, love for you to check out today’s true post and appreciate my working hard for your amusement.

Some of you, however, may struggle to read its more seafaring speak so I have included this version for you. If you’re sure that you don’t wish to read this review the way it was intended then, by all means, read on.

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