Global Fusion
Canadian-born Phil Fong and his wife Sandra Nolan serve up a modern fusion-style Asian menu with an innovative twist at their Pretoria home.
When an opportunity to live in South Africa crossed our paths, we signed up for the adventure!’ laughs Sandra Nolan, who first met her husband Phil Fong in high school in their home town of Ottawa, Canada. 
The adventure was supposed to last for a couple of years, but has turned out to be 10 so far.
When food lover Phil’s original two-year work contract came to an end, instead of returning to Canada with their sons, Bennett and Harris and daughter Olivia, they decided to extend their stay with numerous short-term contracts.
Phil and Sandy grew up in households with very different cultural backgrounds. Phil’s family favours mostly traditionally-prepared Chinese food, while Sandy comes from a large family of five girls who grew up eating easily-prepared family favourites. Meals in their own home in Pretoria draw on both these influences – and many others.
‘As a family we enjoy all types of food, but especially fusion-style dishes that mix good quality fresh ingredients and have an innovative twist,’ says Sandy. ‘Bistro food is also fun, although cooking at home on week nights, we tend to fall back on our favourites: pastas, Mexican dishes and of course, stir-fries. We also include lots of meat-free dishes to accommodate one of our sons, who’s a vegetarian.’
Wine has always been an integral part of the Fong family’s meals with a global wine selection served at their dinner parties. ‘Cooking and entertaining, which we seem to do a lot of, is for us, a way to meet people and we turn every invitation into a celebration of how lucky we are to have met so many friends.’
Phil works for the United Nations and as such, travels all over the world. This is an added bonus as he expands his wine collection with wines from exotic locations. He also has a real passion for South African wines, especially those from the Cape Winemakers’ Guild, which he believes are of exceptional quality with their limited production.
‘Our interest in learning about South African wine began on our first trip to the supermarket. We were bowled over by shelf after shelf of South African wine, almost all of which were unknown to us. Prices back then were incredibly inexpensive, so we quickly created a cellar of about 300 bottles, intending to ship them back to Canada after our two-year stint,’ says Phil. Sandy adds: ‘The longer we stayed on in Africa, the more we depleted our cellar, which is a good thing as we’ve discovered many more winemakers and wonderful South African wines.’
STEAMED MUSSELS AND PRAWNS IN COCONUT MILK
Heat a wok to a high temperature and add 20ml olive oil, then stir-fry 2 chopped cloves of garlic, 1 sliced stick of lemongrass, 1 finely sliced red chilli and 1 sliced small root of young, fresh ginger. Add 1kg mussels and 1kg deveined queen size prawns with shells intact. Now add 15ml sesame oil and 10ml Thai fish sauce and stir-fry until the prawns are slightly pink.
Add contents of a 400ml tin of coconut milk and bring to the boil. Add 4 to 5 sliced spring onions, 1 bunch of chopped basil and 1 bunch of chopped coriander and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Throw away any mussels that do not open when cooked!
Leaving the mussel shells on, serve immediately sprinkled with fresh coriander leaves. Serve with crusty bread to soak up the broth.
Serves 8.
GRILLED CHICKEN BREASTS WITH CORIANDER AND LIME
Mix 125ml olive oil, 60ml soy sauce, 15ml sesame oil,1 bunch chopped coriander including roots, zest and juice of 1 lime, 3 large cloves of garlic (crushed), 1 small root of ginger (slivered) together and marinate 8 chicken breast fillets for 1–3 hours in the refrigerator. Return the chicken to room temperature 1 hour before cooking. Grill the chicken breasts over the coals or in the oven until cooked, brushing with the leftover marinade. To serve, slice the chicken breasts and arrange on top of a crunchy Asian salad.
Serves 8.
OVEN-BAKED SUSHI RICE PUDDING
To make the rice pudding, preheat the oven to 120°C and grease a large casserole dish. Stir together 150ml sushi rice (or Italian Arborio rice which works equally well), 750ml hot milk, 125ml sugar and 15ml melted butter in the casserole dish and place in the oven. Bake uncovered for about 2½ hours, stirring every ½ hour or so.
To make the fragrant topping, combine 30ml sugar, juice and rind of 1 orange, 30ml water, 45ml butter, 5 to 7 cardamom seeds and 5 star anise in a pot and cook gently over a low heat until disolved and the flavours infused.To serve, remove the rice pudding from the oven and stir in 5ml vanilla extract. Dish up into individual bowls and pour over the fragrant topping.
Serves 8.
