Quay Po Cooks: banana pie

Showing posts with label banana pie. Show all posts

Saturday, January 28, 2012

The largest “Doh”( means Island in Cantonese) in the world

Have you been asked this question before? In Cantonese, the question sounded like this, “Jui tai ker doh, hai mak yeh doh?” (What is the largest "Doh" (island) in the world? First, it is useless to ask me, it is like “pong wor seong jay saw” (asking a monk for a comb). Why? Because I dropped the subject, Geography altogether when I was in high school. I have no clue at all.

Now coming back to the question. Anyone know the answer? You must be thinking of the names of many famous "Doh"( island) in the world right ? Haiyah, me too, throwing limited names of those islands I knew but they were ALL WRONG! The biggest “doh” in the world is called “Char Doh”. Of course there is no such island in the world lah. “Char Doh” in Cantonese means (got squeezed!) LOL! I believe Cantonese speaking people will have a good laugh out of this joke but I am not sure my Western friends and readers will get it or find this funny. Honestly, sometimes, when my Quay Lo cracked a Quay Lo joke, I don’t get it and vice versa. This also applies to certain things we said to each other. Certain phrases that he used may be normal to him but I find it offensive. For example, I told my Quay Lo, I am going to the store. He would say “Knock yourself out.” What?? Knock myself out?? Or he would say, “I don’t care.” That makes me angry. It sounded rude and dismissive to me but he told me it is perfectly alright to speak like that to the Westerners and they will not be offended. Then, it irritates him to the max when he said something to me and I answered with a big “NO” before I continue what I wanted to say. Usually, that will not offend any of my Asian friends either. I guess that is truly culture difference.

So today I have “KNOCKED MYSELF OUT” and prepared this dessert. I told my Quay Lo, I made this for my neighbor and not for him and I am going to give both the pies to them and know what he said to me? “I don’t care.” GRRRRR!! “Char Doh!!” (Got squeezed) big time!

Banana Pie with Chocolate Ganache
and Salted Caramel Sauce

Inspired by Amanda Hesser's The Essential New York Times Cookbook.

Ingredients:

Pie Crust

Ganache Layer:

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate

(about 1/2 cup chocolate chips)

Salted Caramel Sauce

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon water

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel (or kosher salt)

For Assembly:

3 medium bananas, cut in thin slices

Make the ganache:

Set the chocolate into a bowl. Heat the heavy cream to boiling point and pour over the chocolate. Let stand a couple of minutes and gently stir until fully incorporated and glossy. It should be the consistency of warmed chocolate syrup. Cool to room temperature. Pour over the cooled pie crust and refrigerate.

Make the caramel sauce:

In a heavy saucepan set over medium-high heat, stir together sugar and water, and bring to a boil. Let boil until amber-colored. Once it starts taking on color, keep a close eye because it will turn quickly. Immediately add butter and stir to incorporate. Remove from heat, add cream and salt (be careful, it will splatter), and mix well. It should be smooth and have a syrup-like consistency. Let cool to room temperature.

To assemble:

Decorate with banana slices. Drizzle some caramel sauce over the banana slices. Chill, and serve within 24 hours.

A LITTLE ABOUT THIS QUAY PO

Before I was married to my "Quay Lo" (Guaylo) husband, I did not know how to bake or cook. Subsequently I learned some baking and cooking Western cuisine from him, and providing his food for him launched an interest in cooking in general. Many of my Chinese friends and family told me that "Quay" is the wrong spelling for devil in Cantonese. The right spelling should be "Kwai" or "Guay". Well, somehow I like the spelling "Quay" better although I have to agree that it does not sound very Cantonese. Try asking a Westerner to pronounce "Kwai" and you will probably hear "Quay" haha. Whether is "Quay" or "Kwai" or "Guay, just know the devil woman is me when you see Quay Po Cooks. My hubby said if people pronounce "Quay" as "Key" is even better because I am the key to his heart. LOL!

Only now, have I started to learn the traditional Cantonese cuisine of my Mum. She cooks fabulously and all her specialties are divine. These two interests, my husband's Western food, and my mother's traditional food, prompted me to document them so they will not be lost.

Here, I wish to share my cooking and baking experience with my readers. I also hope to inspire those who do not know how to cook or bake to do so because, trust me, if I can, you can too.

Something I'd like to mention is that I find that many people are rather unwilling to share their recipes. However, for me, I think differently. I think good recipes should be shared thus allowing as many people to enjoy it as possible. Unless those recipes are for doing business, I don't see why we want to keep them all to ourselves. So if you are generous in sharing your recipes, you are welcome to share on my blog. Send the recipes to me and better still with pictures of the final products and I will be very happy to post them them with credits to you of course.

Our cuisine is a deeply embedded part of our culture. When two cultures come together under the same roof the results in the kitchen can sometimes be comedic, sometimes confrontational, but more often it is a journey full of surprises and discovery. There is joy in our food. If we think upon this, it is intuitively obvious. This blog is a journey of joy and sharing, reflecting what the French like to call "joie de vivre" (joy of living). No one could be more different from one another then my husband and my mother. Yet one thing they share in common is knowing intuitively that food, cooking, and sharing can be avenues of joy in life itself. So herein, help yourself, to a little joy and , if you like it, share it with your own family and friends. Joy is something that should be shared.