In the Kitchen with Tie

Her parents are Chinese. She was born in Indonesia. The US has been her home since 1979. But you probably won't find anyone in the US who knows more about Brazilian cuisine than Eng Tie Ang.

Darly Serqueira

Ask Eng Tie Ang what her nationality is and she will answer "Brazilian" without a second thought. And she is Brazilian. She was five when her parents emigrated from Indonesia to Suzano, a town in the interior of the state of São Paulo. It was there that Eng Tie went to grammar school, high school, and the University of Braz Cubas, where she graduated from the School of Architecture and Urbanism.

Despite a valuable diploma, an assured career as an architect and a promising future, Tie, as she likes to be called, wanted to travel. The young architect initially went to Taiwan. While there she developed her artistic talent for painting Chinese watercolors. She started to teach her hosts what she appreciated and learned with her mother — the cook for the small family restaurant — about Brazilian cuisine. Her classes became a hit and Tie found a new vocation.

When, at age 21, architect-painter-cook-instructor Eng Tie Ang swapped Taiwan for the US and decided to study at a computer college, it was her Brazilian food knowledge that helped her pay for the studies. Settled in Seattle, where she has worked as an architect for two years, Tie finally decided to make her cooking expertise her main career. Today she teaches Brazilian and Thai cooking at the Washington University in addition to schools like Kitchen Kitchen and Bon Marché. At the insistence of her students she released in 1993 Delightful Brazilian Cooking, a compilation of the best Brazilian recipes she knows.

She found her editor at home. He is her husband Donald Richard Bissonnett who writes children's books and teaches English at Washington University.

Tie, who has two small children (Alex, 10 and Andre, 7) has become a celebrity of sorts. She has been invited to TV programs, and articles about her and her work have been published frequently in the mainstream American press. She's even got her own TV show. Too much success can be dangerous though and the Brazilian master cook found that out the hard way when she was told that she was being prohibited from participating in culinary competitions from now on. The reason given was that she was always the winner!

How does Tie explain her book's success? "The work is a hit because the American-style recipes are easy to cook and people consider them the real thing," she says. Today, with spices all around, she plies her trade in the Greenwood area of Seattle in her ultra-modern kitchen. She teaches ethnic cooking two evenings a week in classes that are always full, with students on a waiting list hoping for an opening. One of her specialty courses is entitled "Delightful Brazilian Cooking", the same as her cookbook. From feijoada completa to pão de queijo, she delights her students with some of Brazil's finest culinary treats.

Tie says that her heart continues to be in Brazil, her adopted homeland. "One of the benefits of offering classes in Brazilian cooking," says Tie, "is that I get to meet a lot of interesting people who have either traveled to or lived in Brazil. It's nice being with them, telling stories, and teaching them to cook authentic meals. Even after 16 years in the United States, I still consider Brazil to be my home."

In Delightful Brazilian Cooking, there are over 130 recipes which Tie has diligently collected over the years. Many of her recipes have been modified, however, due to health consciousness concerns on the author's part. As she says, "With all that science and medicine have told us about fatty foods and foods high in cholesterol, it would be almost criminal on my part to continue using the traditional oils and huge egg counts for some recipes, when there are other oils available in the US that taste just as good, and are far less harmful to our bodies."

Tie continues, "The same is also true for items like eggs and sugar. Cakes and other recipes calling for a dozen eggs or more are really a thing of the past. With my recipes, I have maintained the integrity of the dishes, as well as the excellent taste, but I have paid close attention to health concerns. Therefore, things like fios de ovos (a sweet whose main ingredient are eggs), though delicious, simply couldn't be included in good conscience in Delightful Brazilian Cooking."

The book is available in bookstores, but you might prefer to write, call, or fax for an autographed copy to Ambrosia Publications - PO Box 30818 - Seattle, WA. 98103. Tel. and fax: (206) 789-3693.

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Chicken Soup
(Canja de Galinha)

34 lb. chicken, cut into small pieces

3 quarts water

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground white pepper

1 cup white long grain rice, washed, drained

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 carrot, finely diced

1 clove garlic, crushed

3 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped

1 tablespoon green onion, chopped

In a large pot, combine the chicken, water, salt and white pepper and cook for 1 hour or until the chicken is tender. Add the rice, onion, carrot, garlic and tomatoes and simmer until rice is wellcooked, approximately 30 minutes. Garnish with parsley and green onion. Serves 68.

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Stuffed Green Peppers
(Pimentão Recheado)

1/2 lb. ground pork

1 cup cooked rice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 small yellow onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

4 tablespoons cooked ham, chopped

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 egg, beaten

4 large green bell peppers, seeded, cut lengthwise

1 can tomato sauce (l5 oz.)

In a bowl, mix the pork, rice, salt, onion, garlic, ham, pepper and egg. Stuff the peppers with this mixture and place into a 9x13 inch baking pan and pour the tomato sauce over the peppers. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees for 5 minutes, then bake the peppers, covered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the peppers are cooked. Serves 68.

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Bahian Fish Muqueca
(Muqueca de Peixe)

4 tablespoons dendê oil

1 yellow onion, finely chopped

1 fresh red hot cayenne pepper, chopped 

3 cloves garlic, crushed

2 teaspoons ground coriander

2 lb. halibut, cut into 4inch squares

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

4 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded, chopped

l teaspoon ground white pepper

1 can coconut milk (14 fl. oz.)

2 teaspoons Italian parsley, finely chopped

Heat the oil in a medium-sized pot and stirfry the onion until golden brown. Add the cayenne, garlic, coriander and halibut. Stirfry for 3 minutes. Add the salt, lemon juice, tomatoes, white pepper, coconut milk and parsley. Simmer for 10 minutes or until the fish is cooked. Serve with Brazilian Rice.

Serves 46.

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Breaded Veal Cutlet
(Bife à Milanesa)

2 lb. veal steak, 1/2 inch thick individual servings

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground white pepper

2 tablespoons Italian parsley, chopped

4 eggs, beaten

2 cups fine bread crumbs

1/2 cup vegetable oil for deepfrying

Rub each piece of steak on both sides with garlic, salt, pepper and Italian parsley. Dip each piece of steak in the egg and then coat the steaks with bread crumbs. Deepfry the breaded meat in a large frying pan over medium heat for about 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Serve with pepper and lemon sauce. (The same recipe can be used for beef, chicken, fish or shrimp.) Serves 46.

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Brazilian Black Beans
(Feijoada Completa)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed

4 cups dried black beans, soaked overnight, drained

1 lb. salt pork, boiled for 5 minutes, cut into 1inch cubes

2 lb. Portuguese sausage (lingüiça) or Italian sausage

1 lb. smoked lean ham hocks

2 lb. corned beef, cut into 2inch cubes

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

4 bay leaves

1 fresh orange, washed very well, cut in half

2 1/2 quarts water

6 oranges, peeled, sliced

Heat the oil in a large, heavy, deep pot and stirfry the onion and garlic for 1 minute or until light golden brown. Add the beans, salt pork, Portuguese sausage, ham hocks, corned beef, salt, black pepper, bay leaves, halvedorange and water. Cover and simmer for 2 hours or until the beans are tender, stirring occasionally and adding water if needed. Serve with sliced oranges, manioc meal with butter and eggs, Brazilian rice, collard greens, vinaigrette sauce and cachaça (Brazilian Spirits) Cocktail. [All of which is taught in the book.] Serves 810.

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Coconut Custard
(Quindins de Coco)

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

4 tablespoons fresh coconut, finely grated

6 egg yolks, beaten

12 custard cups

In a small pan, combine the sugar and water and cook over a low heat until it spins a thread, stirring occasionally. Add the butter. Cool. Mix the coconut and egg yolks and add to the syrup, stirring well with a wooden spoon. Pour into small, individually buttered custard cups and put in a 9x13 inch baking pan, containing 1 inch of hot water and bake in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes. The top of each custard should be light brown in color. Let cool, then place upside down in white paper baking cups. When turned over, the bottom should have a tender, jellylike consistency. Makes 1012.

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Cachaça
(Brazilian Spirits)
Cocktail
(Caipirinha)

2 tablespoons sugar

2 fresh limes, finely grated and squeezed

1 cup cachaça or white rum

1 cup crushed ice

In a small bowl, combine the sugar, grated lime peel and lime juice. Let stand for 5 minutes. Add the cachaça. Pour the cocktail mixture into small glasses filled with ice. Serves 4.