Winter dreams and Karjalanpaisti/ Karelian stew recipe..

When you picture Finland you  might think of Santa and his merry reindeer, action packed winter sports or the colourful drama of the Northern lights against a dark and barren snowy backdrop.
Here in Finland the days are rapidly getting darker, shorter and colder so it's the perfect time to snuggle up and seek comfort in warming soups and cosy stews. My thoughts are turning to the long winter ahead; of the few hours of muted bluish daylight and the long, dark peaceful nights. With every drop in the mercury I wander if tonight is the night the Lady of the North brings down her chilling magic, leaving crisp electricity in the air and a plump blanket of snow to tuck in all the plants and trees for their winter sleep until May.
 All that snow and cold weather means we are going to need plenty of  hearty fare and traditional Finnish cuisine has many such recipes to choose from. One of the most famous recipes is also my father in law's favourite - Karjalanpaisti  or Karelian stew as it's known in English. Yesterday in Finland was 'Isänpäivä' or Fathers day, so we spent it with our family in Kuusamo. Kuusamo is a beautiful small town close to the Arctic circle,  famous for its winter sports and 5 (!) National parks. To celebrate the day and show some much earned appreciation to the men of honour I made the afore mentioned delicacy. Karjalanpaisti is a simple recipe but it has a rich flavour and the smell as it cooks is so wonderfully warming and homely. It's almost medieval, with its aromas of bay and Christmassy Allspice . The best tip I can give you is to just give this recipe time. The lower and slower you cook this, the more buttery and sumptuous the meat becomes and the richer and thicker the gravy gets.

Karjalanpaisti/ Karelian stew~

Ingredients:-

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil 
• Approx 800g of karjalanpaisti mixed meat or a mixture of beef, pork and lamb 
• 2 onions, sliced
• 2 carrots, cut into chunks 
• 2 tsp black peppercorns 
• 1 tsp allspice  berries 
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 beef stock cube ( optional but makes a richer gravy)
• salt and plenty of fresh black pepper

Method:-

Preheat the oven to 150c ( 130c for a fan assisted oven)

Heat the oil in a large frying pan 

Brown the meat evenly and decant into a large casserole dish ( a lasagne dish works fine)

Add all the other ingredients and mix thoroughly to coat all the meat with the seasoning 

Add enough cold water to cover the meat and vegetables,  give it another mix and put it in the oven for at least 3 hours, upto 5/6

Check every hour or so to see if the meat is tender and it isn't drying out. It's ok if it goes dark brown on the top , it in fact adds to the flavour!

Serve with mash potatoes,  lingonberry jam and green veg.

Serves 6-8

Enjoy!

Today we are all sick with coughs, colds and generally feeling le poo. So to remedy this we have had lots of cuddles on the sofa watching Moomins and a nice spicy tofu curry and fried rice for lunch ! When I'm feeling ill and down , I really yearn for a good old chinese takeaway from the Jumbo house back in my hometown in England . Ah, just thinking of it makes me feel wonderful and warm inside! The menu that has never changed in 30 years , the pagoda around the till and the sound of football results in the background! Even now I can't hear Liverpool 1, West Ham 2 without getting a craving for fried rice and barbecue sauce! Chinese takeaway is more than just food to me, it's memories , it's comfort , it's a home and a time left behind . It's a Saturday treat, it's a special ritual with my grandad that started when I was a baby that he continued with my children right up until his passing a few years ago. Even in his final days , when his appetite was all but gone , it was one of his last requests.  We  shared it together, enjoying the delicious tastes and sweet memories of previous meals shared together . I've had chinese takeaway to celebrate birthdays , new jobs and even the births of my babies. I've eaten it to cure my hangovers , to heal my heart after a break up and many times as a comfort when life just feels a bit too hard. Now I'm in Finland we have only one chinese restaurant. It's lovely , we went there in our first week of living here and we've taken family there when they visit . It's tasty , it's fun and it's welcoming . But it's not the SAME . Every culture has their own cannibalised version of Chinese food and the finnish version with more protein and less carb is great , but it doesn't FEEL the same. It's one of those silly ,completely trivial and irrational things that gets to you when you are an expat having a bad day. When I don't want that perfectly decent chinese food that I would happily eat any other day - I want MY type of Chinese food! From a PROPER chinese takeaway, done the proper  unauthentic anglicised way! So there! I hate it when I feel this way and luckily it isn't often as I am quite a finnophile and will happily munch away on leipajusto, cloudberry jam , riisipirikka, ruisleipä and fazer chocolate every day of the week. But sometimes it all just gets too much and the tears and the anxiety come up and I just want to feel safe and at a home with things that are familiar and feel like they belong to ME. Things from MY childhood and MY culture. Things that when I was back in England I hardly even ate, can now be the difference between a complete breakdown and utter bliss. Monster munch, dairylea spread and the chemical ecstacy of Angel delight! ( I remember my husbands utter horror at the strange, sweet-smelling, slightly bubbly mousse type thing which after a lot of bribing and cajoling I managed to get him to try. We are now both addicts and considering going into heavy debt to order vast quantities of it from a specialist on line store , along with sherbert dib dabs, Terry's chocolate orange and dark bounties ! Junk heaven !)
Anyway, back to today and my pursuit of a curry that is at least similar to the taste of my childhood . It may not rival the Jumbo house, but today's version was so tasty , so quick and so easy that it will definitely become a family staple.  The sauce has so much flavour and will go just as well with meat , quorn or vegetables and would even be great just on chips or a jacket potato ! Play around with the recipe, add your favourite things and tell me what you think! (And if you are a fellow expat having a hard time I hope this recipe helps you feel less alone and brings you enough comfort that you don't have to explain to your partner why you are crying in the supermarket/fridge/restaurant bathroom etc etc )

♡ Recipe for Chinese takeaway style curry with tofu and egg fried rice ♡

Makes enough for 2 adults and 2 small children

For the fried rice -

6dl of water
2 and a half dl of long grain rice
( dl is short for decilitre or 100ml so to measure the rice pour it into a measuring jug till it hits the 250ml line. It's a common measurement here in finland. Just follow the instructions on your rice packet !)
1 egg
Sesame oil or vegetable oil
Soy sauce to taste

For the curry-

1 medium onion thinly sliced
3 small coves of finely chopped garlic
1  carrot thinly sliced
100g mushrooms finely sliced
300g pack of tofu cubed
1 handful of frozen peas
400ml tin of coconut milk
2 tablespoons of cocount oil or vegetable oil
250ml vegetable stock
1 teaspoon of ginger powder
Half a teaspoon of chilli powder
1 teaspoon of turmeric
1 tablespoon of curry powder
1 teaspoon peanut butter (optional but makes it more savoury )
Dash of mirrin or vinegar
Pinch of sugar
Soy sauce and black pepper to taste

Method

Start by chopping the tofu and leaving to air dry in a colander.

Cook the rice according to the pack instructions, but take a few minutes off the cooking time so it isn't too soft. Drain and leave to cool in the fridge. The colder it is the more crisp it will be when you fry it.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and gently fry the onion and carrot until golden and soft.
Add the garlic and powdered ginger and cook for one minute.
Turn up the heat and fry the mushrooms for a few minutes till starting to colour, stirring occasionally.
Add the rest of the spices and the cubed tofu stirring to coat and add a dash of Soy sauce. Then pour in the coconut milk and about half the stock. Add the frozen peas, peanut butter and mirrin/vinegar and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding more stock if the sauce gets to thick. Adjust the seasoning with Soy sauce and pepper . (Keep tasting and adjusting the spice and seasoning to suit your preferences , it doesn't need to be exact measurements follow your taste buds !)

Heat oil in a large frying pan on a high heat and add the chilled rice . Add a dash of Soy sauce and crack the egg on top of the rice . Mix together in the pan , stirring constantly until thoroughly mixed and cooked. Serve with the curry and enjoy! ☺


Football results playing in the background optional. . . .