Red n Hot......

One might think that announcing your intention to visit an establishment named "Red n Hot" situated on the outskirts of London's Soho area could raise a few eyebrows!....However hold those thoughts because it's neither a building busily bursting with busty babes nor is it a bordelo bulging with bouncy bi-sexual beefcakes, it is in fact a rather fantastic little Szechuan restaurant.

(I wonder how many hits I get in the blog because I've used those words)

I say fantastic with regard to its food rather than in reverence to it's appearance. It's not exactly plush!

I was first drawn in there by hunger but also too by the name. I like my spicy food and I like to challenge my taste buds to the heat so seeing something called "Red n Hot" with the the suffix "Szechuan Cuisine" was just too tempting.

I always play it pretty safe when I go there and have the same the house special of Sliced beef sichuan style. Described as lavishly topped with chilli & sichuan pepper and I accompanied that with some egg fried rice.

Now I say safe because even though it's incredibly hot (so much so that this time around it even anaesthetised part of my tongue) it's rather tame considering some of the other dishes on the menu......uh hmmmmmm......These are taken directly from their menu and not made up or altered in anyway.

002. Husband & Wife’s Pork Lung Slice
004. Shredded Hot & Spicy Pig’s Tripe
006. Marinated Duck’s Tongue in Chilli Sauce
014. Hot & Spicy Beef Tripe
017. Slices of Pig’s Ears in Sesame Oil
052. Dry Fried Pig’s Intestine with Red & Green Peppers (Sichuan Delicacy)
054. Gong Bao Pig’s Intestine with Peanut
060. Fire Exploded Kidney Flowers, Crisp & Fast Fried
115. Dry Fried Frog Legs with Chilli Peppers(Authentic Sichuan Dish)

And curiously on the vegetable section of the menu one finds these -

140. Dry Fried Green Beans with Minced Pork
142. Aubergine in Fish Flavoured Sauce
145. Diced Chicken with Aubergine in Oyster Sauce
146. Pea Sprouts & Shredded Chicken with Thousand Year Egg in Rich Broth
159. Spinach & Shredded Chicken with Thousand Year Egg in Rich Broth

......You really couldn't make this stuff up but if you still don't believe me you can check it out for yourselves right here

I think I've been there three times now and I've never seen another western person in there. I do get some funny looks when I walk in. I think they must assume at first glance that I'm either lost or delivering something.

Each table doubles up as an induction hob too. They do this wonderful looking dish involving what seems as big bowl of broth which is kept hot on the induction hob and a huge board of meats and vegetables which you dip into the broth to cook then transfer to your bowl to eat.

It looks amazing but I'm yet to try. Firstly because I am not brave enough to even think about what meats are on that board let alone try them and secondly because it's so big that even if I did summon the cojones to get involved I'd never get close to finishing it on my own.

Next time you're in London and feeling peckish I seriously recommend popping in and giving it a go. It's on Charing Cross road on the far edges of Chinatown if approaching from the Piccadilly Circus end.

The ongoing mackerel and gooseberry experiment got another tweak on Monday and I'm pretty chuffed with myself for getting it almost right. This time I made a mackerel pâté garnished with a little chopped fresh mint and served that up with the absolutely winning pickled fennel, toasted bread and a gooseberry purée rather than a jelly.

To make the pate I used six mackerel fillets which I'd cooked in a water bath and then allowed to cool. Of these six fillets I removed the skin from four and blitzed up with some double cream, melted (unsalted) butter and seasoning until it was smooth then into it I folded the flaked remaining mackerel fillets and put in the fridge to set.

Of course you don't have to use a water bath you can just grill, bake or steam them.

The acidity and anise flavour from the pickled fennel compliments the mackerel so perfetcly and then the sweetness of the gooseberry purée balances it all so well together. The hint of fresh mint gives an added layer of flavour but as it's just a garnish you can choose how much or how little yourself rather than it being overpowering.

This time around I shaved the fennel lengthways. (I used a vegetable peeler, you could use a knife if you're skilled at doing so but a veg peeler is much easier and quicker). It gave it a little more flavour but also added much more of the missing bite from the last pickling attempt. Mix that with the relative smoothness of the pâté, the crunch of the toast and the purée and you get all these wonderful textures and flavours combining.

My only concern with the dish now is presentation. I have ideas for this but it involves rectangular plates and not setting the pâté in ramekins......I don't have rectangular plates, the mould required for setting the pate or a kitchen with decent enough light to take good photos........yet !!!

Toodlepip xx

Catch Up Mk2.....

Phew! What a few days I've had. Apologies for not keeping you up to date, I know your lives must be all the more lacking of not knowing my inane thoughts and ramblings but a combination of Harry Potter & Chronicles of Narnia has mean't I've been to-ing and fro-ing from London with barely enough time to even pop out for a beer let alone ramble on blog styleeeeee.

So what to catch up on? I'd love to tell you my thoughts on the films I mentioned but I'm duty bound to keep my opinions to myself but I suppose I could say that fans of either will not be disappointed.

I suppose the only gripe I have is that I had to go to Soho for a few days to get one of them working properly and I have to say I'm not Soho's biggest fan. I have no idea how some of my friends work there. They must be mad!

It's just full of people dressed the same with the same haircuts talking in that same nu-skool university language that has lots of "likes", "yaaars" and "whatevaaaars". I just find it all so very false. Has it always been like that?

The better side of the area is the food to be had. On Saturday I was wandering around looking for some lunch and stumbled across this little Chinese place just outside of Chinatown and scouring the menu I managed to convince myself that the Beef and peppers with chilli was the way forward, well it was either that or chicken because the rest of the menu was made up of such luxuries as Pig's intestines and Tripe.

Well when these guys mean chilli they certainly mean chilli and lots of it !! It was fantastic. I just had that dish with some Egg fried rice and there was enough for 3 people easily. I will without doubt visit there again and have second helpings. They also had induction heaters build into the surface of the tables which I found fascinating. People around me were using them but it wasn't necessary for me.

Sunday I was again in the office investigating, sorting out and fixing all the issues that sent me to Soho in the first place. Absolutely none of them the fault of ourselves but as so often happens in this industry people feel the need to point the finger to absolve themselves of any blame and because we are last in the line when it comes to post production any mistakes made by people before us mean us having to correct them to ensure the integrity of our work. It's frustrating but it happens and we have to deal with it....OK it's a load of old s**t!

Monday I was back that way again and this time found myself eating in a restaurant called Ping Pong just off Regents Street by Liberty's. It's a Dim Sum place and they have all the usual dishes plus some of their own creation. The whole setting was lovely and the food fantastic, especially the chilli oil and sauce, again not done by half measures. There are about 16 of these places around London so get involved if your in the area. Otherwise just find some Dim Sum wherever you are and enjoy it's loveliness.

In other news I was really disappointed to read the news that the London fire service had announced plans to strike on 5th November. I understand it's the unions forcing this issue and the firemen would really rather settle the dispute without it effecting the service but to call it on this day and for 79% of the brigade to support it shows a terrible lack of concern for public safety on what will be the busiest night.

I'm in full support of the 21% who agree that strike action is not the way to negotiate and I'm absolutely disgusted with the behaviour shown by some of the people on the picket lines towards their fellow workers and I'm afraid because of that those 79% have completely lost my respect and it looks like it's split the country too.

They do a great job no doubt but their places could be filled 10 times over by people willing to train up and put on that uniform. It's about time that these people and all those other who thinking that striking is acceptable start looking around themselves and realising that in this day and age and at the times we are going through economically (all thanks to the previous government and not the current one) that nobody is indispensable.

They are trying to blackmail Londoners using their lives as bargaining chips and to me that is not negotiation that is terrorism.

Oooooh that was an unexpected rant !! I must learn to control myself :-)

On a lighter note I had a dream about a rather spectacular breakfast last night which I might try and replicate at the weekend...Breakfast art it'll be.