BY day, he is behind the stoves at his restaurant Saint Pierre, but on TV, Emmanuel Stroobant is the appropriately clad Chef in Black, the classically trained European chef who travels through Asia to experience local cuisine and then reproduce it his own way. 'This roasted capon is very easy to do as all the ingredients can be found in the local market or supermarket,' he says. 'It takes 15 minutes to prepare and even my Mum would be able to cook it. Replace the minced pork with chicken, if you prefer.'

Roast capon with late market spiced stuffing
(serves 4)

Ingredients:
1 capon (or large chicken), about 1.5 kg
220 g pork minced
1 tbsp peeled and chopped ginger
1 tbsp peeled and chopped garlic
1 tbsp peeled and chopped galangal
1 tbsp peeled and chopped chili
1 onion peeled and chopped
1 egg
50 g bread crumbs
2 tbsp sambal belachan
2 tbsp melted butter
2 tbsp lemon juice

Method:
In a mortar (or blender) pound ginger, garlic, galangal, chili and onion. Combine paste with the minced pork, egg and bread crumbs. Wash the chicken and stuff the cavity with the pork mixture. Mix the sambal belachan, butter and lemon. Brush over the chicken. Roast at 180 deg C for 90 minutes.