On Stew Weather

Colder weather is stew weather in my book.

There is just something so deeply comforting about big bowls holding different combinations of meat and veg in either a complex broth or a rich gravy on a chilly night in the leadup to Christmas and the New Year.

If you've spent the bulk of the day cooking, baking, or even shopping for and wrapping up presents, such meals are particularly welcome.

But for those of us who lost loved ones or went through Hell and back during 2024, a stew dinner means so much more than just a filling meal.

This is a family favourite and one particularly loved by my father and brother

Can Curry Cure the Blues?

Curry - any sort of curry, but yellow Thai curry and Nonya curry are our pots of choice - has always been a family favourite. 

When my father was alive, he appreciated good Indian curries, even Indonesian stews redolent with spices and coconut milk. 

My brother, with his constant fascination with Indian mythology and Pan-Malayan culture, was likewise; but he never turned his nose up at Japanese curry. In fact, his last restaurant meal - lunch the day before he died - was a gorgeous plate of curried ox tongue cooked in the Japanese manner, served with tsukemono and a huge quenelle of rice.

Some weeks after we laid Jeff to his rest last June, I made a massive pot of chicken curry: Thai-style, chicken, potatoes, carrots, and - my own addition - quartered mushrooms. 

My mother, sister, and I ate well, but even an old family favourite could stop up the massive gap that suddenly yawed into our lives.

It may not have staved off the blues completely, but it brought comfort when it mattered.

Anyone up for kamameshi?

Cook the Rice in the Broth!

Sometimes, though, one cannot be arsed to cook the stew separately from the rice. This is mainly because the rice tastes so damned good when simmered in the broth or gravy!

This I discovered when I learned how to make Hainanese chicken rice years ago. (My recipe for which is... Well, if I told you, I'd have to end you.) But, more recently, I realised that you can cook kamameshi in your rice cooker.

I found a recipe in one of the many Japanese cookbooks I've collected over the years. I've balked at making kamameshi because I don't have the claypot/table stove thing necessary for an authentic product.

But it actually is very simple. You merely sauté the aromatics, add the raw rice, whatever proteins or veg you want, then pour in your broth, plus some soy and mirin. Clap on the lid, switch on the cooker, and let it cook for as long as it takes.

What you have is a steaming bowl of goodness: rice and all sorts of good things. Just the thing you need to stay warm on a cold night; a bit of comfort to stave off the darkness that winter and the stress of the holidays bring.